BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Southern Vermont College baseball team defeated/lost to non-conference foe the University of Maine at Presque Isle Owls 16-9 Friday night at Epstein Field. The Mountaineers were led by sophomore’s Eric Wells and Pat Warrington who combined for nine RBI’s on the night. Freshman pitcher Max Ginter (1-1) picked up his first win in his collegiate career on the hill for SVC.
Southern Vermont improved to 9-11, while the Owls fell to 2-22 overall.
The Owls were ahead 7-0 in heading into the bottom of the third inning when the Mountaineer bats started to warm up with an RBI single by freshman Mike Larsen. The next batter, Warrington, crushed a triple to left center that scored sophomore Pete Metzler and Larsen. An RBI single by Wells sent Warrington across the plate to make it 7-4. A few batters later sophomore Corey Briggs hit an RBI double to the fence that sent Wells home to cut the Owls lead to two. A groundout by sophomore Rob Murawski scored freshman Corey Armstrong, Briggs scored next on a wild pitch, and Metzler capped eight run inning with an RBI single to make it 8-7.
The Owls scored one run in the fourth and the fifth to take back the lead 9-8 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. Larsen scored when Armstrong reached first on an error by the UMPI shortstop to tie it up 9-9. A five run seventh inning and two more in the eighth gave the Mountaineers all that they needed to get through with a 16-9 win over the Owls.
Ginter struck out six and only walking one in the victory in seven innings of work. Only four of the nine runs scored by the Owls were earned, while the rest came from defensive mishaps for SVC. Sophomore Will Warner pitched a scoreless eighth and Wells threw the ninth, striking out the last batter to end the game.
Metzler, Larsen, Warrington, Wells, and Armstrong each had three hits for the Mountaineers to round out the box.
Weather permitting Southern Vermont will host NECC foe the Elms College Blazers Saturday, April 17th, with the first game starting at 12:00 p.m.