BROCKTON, Mass. – Southern Vermont College won its first New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) baseball series with a Saturday split at Newbury College. The hosts took the first game 3-2, and the Mountaineers then took the backend of the doubleheader 7-3 at Campanelli Stadium.
After defeating the Nighthawks Friday night, the Mountaineers move to 2-1 in the conference (7-9 overall) as Newbury falls to 1-5 in NECC play (5-11 overall).
Game 1 –Newbury 3, SVC 2
Game 1 saw Newbury win in the last inning with a walk-off base hit after SVC had come back to tie it up in the top of the fifth.
The Nighthawks jumped on the scoreboard first, scoring twice in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore leftfielder Michael Perillo (Mansfield, Mass.) lined a one-out base-hit back where it came from before advancing 90 feet on a single to the opposite field off the bat of left-handed first year third baseman Ryan Zahornasky (Shelton, Conn.). Following a walk to senior right fielder Matthew Clawson (Tolland, Conn.) to load the bases, sophomore shortstop Steven Broy (Gorman, Maine) lifted a high fly ball to right field to plate Perillo with the game's first run. Moments later, after Mountaineer southpaw Zach Milton (Fort Myers, Fla.) caught Clawson leaning towards second, Zahornasky was able to sneak home to give the Nighthawks the 2-0 advantage.
Southern Vermont finally got to senior right hander Chris Ninteau (Lisbon, Conn.), who retired the first seven batters he faced, in the top of the fifth. After back-to-back one-out walks to senior catcher Corey D. Briggs (Wood River, R.I.) and sophomore leftfielder Jarod Hayen (Esperance, N.Y.), the Mountaineers scored twice on singles by lead-off hitting centerfielder Sal Sciara (Massapequa, N.Y.) and sophomore shortstop Chris Nicastro (Cranford, N.J.) to knot up the score at two apiece.
That was the way the game stood until Newbury sophomore designated hitter Ryan Sinclair (Portsmouth, N.H.) rocketed a one-out laser passed the drawn-in infield in the bottom of the seventh to drive home Broy to walk-off with the 3-2 victory.
Broy opened the bottom of the seventh lacing a triple into the left-centerfield gap. Three batters later following a hit-by-pitch from sophomore second baseman Cameron D'Agostino (Salisbury, Mass.), the Nighthawks had runners at the corners with only one out. Southern Vermont opted to pull its infield in which Sinclair took full advantage of and lined the pitch up the middle for the game-winning hit.
Ninteau improves to 2-2 with the win on the hill while Milton loses his first decision of his collegiate career (0-1).
Sciara went 2-4 with an RBI in the game, and Hayen finished 1-2 with a walk and run scored. D. Briggs was 0-1 with two walks and a run scored.
Broy was 1-2 with an RBI and plated a run for the Nighthawks while Sinclair went 1-3 with a run batted in.
Game 2 – SVC 7, Newbury 3
Newbury Game 2 starter, junior southpaw Travis Wade (Portland, Maine), was able to get out of a tight first inning jam, catching SVC sophomore leftfielder Roland Hernandez (Pico Rivera, Calif.) gazing at strike three. However, in the top of the fourth, the Mountaineers were able to get to Wade, scoring three runs to take the 3-0 lead.
The Nighthawks grabbed a run back in the home half of the frame. Clawson opened the bottom of the fifth with a laser shot over Sciara's head in centerfield. He cruised into third with a triple before breaking up the Mountaineer shut-out on a ground-out to third off the bat of Broy to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Southern Vermont's bats exploded in the top of the fifth. Batting around, the Mountaineers put up a crooked four to take a commanding 7-1 lead, but Newbury answered in the bottom of the inning.
NC senior first baseman Justin MacCutcheon (Woburn, Mass.) began the inning with a single into right-centerfield. Three batters later, Perillo and Zahornasky kept the inning alive and load the bases for Clawson. The Tolland, Conn. native ripped a two-run base-hit to plate Perillo and Zahornasky as the Nighthawks began to inch closer, cutting the Mountaineer lead to just 7-3. However, that was all they were able to muster against Southern Vermont Game 2 left-handed freshman Erik Johansen (Rosendale, N.Y.).
In six inning of work, Johansen registered a career single-game high, fanning eight Nighthawks while walking just three and allowing three runs on six hits to pick up the win (2-1). Wade was credited with the loss (0-3).
SVC senior first baseman Corey Armstrong (Bennington, Vt.) went 2-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Senior Dave Northup (Richmond, R.I.) recorded four RBIs on a 2-4 performance, and Nicastro was 1-2 with two runs scored. Freshman RJ Pingitore (Amsterdam, N.Y.) went 2-4 with a run scored.
Clawson finished 2-3 with a walk, two RBIs and a run scored, and MacCutcheon was 1-2 with a walk and run scored.
The Mountaineers turn to non-conference action Tuesday when they visit Salve Regina University for a 3:30 first pitch, and Newbury looks ahead to a Wednesday twin-bill (5/7 p.m.) at Lesley University that was rescheduled from March 23rd.