BENNINGTON, Vt. – A pair of walk-off plays gave the Southern Vermont College baseball team two New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) wins Saturday afternoon over the visiting Becker College Hawks at Bill Epstein Field with SVC senior reliever Dave Northup (Richmond, R.I.) picking up both wins out of the bull pen.
The Mountaineers took the first game 10-9 with a walk-off hit-by-pitch after coming back from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh and then took the day cap 6-5 with an RBI single by sophomore outfielder Roland Hernandez (Pico Rivera, Calif.).
The Mountaineers improve to 4-1 in the NECC (10-10 overall) while Becker drops to 1-8 in league play (1-18 overall)
Game 1 –SVC 10, Becker 9
The Mountaineers found themselves down early after the Hawks put up a crooked eight in the top of the second inning, taking advantage of the SVC errors to grab a large lead. Senior leftfielder Eric Lajoie (Oakham, Mass.) knocked in two with a double to right center as Becker went up 4-0, and a two-bagger down the right field line by junior Taylor Kapulka (Worcester, Mass.) brought in another pair for the 8-0 Hawk advantage.
Southern Vermont responded in the bottom of the frame when the Mountaineers loaded them up with no outs and senior catcher Corey D. Briggs (Wood River, R.I.) knocked in the first with a sacrifice fly to center field. A wild pitch to the backstop then allowed sophomore designated hitter Cody LaBadia (Howes Caves, N.Y.) to come in from third to trim the lead to 8-2.
In the next inning, SVC continued to inch back by putting up two more, this time with a Hernandez roller to short that allowed senior first baseman Corey Armstrong (Bennington, Vt.) to score and a LaBadia single to right that brought around Hernandez.
The Mountaineers tacked up another in the bottom of the fifth with a D. Briggs single to left, however Becker responded with one of its own in the top of the sixth when Kapulka found right field again to bring in junior shortstop Mike Marcello (West Haven, Conn.), making it a 9-5 ballgame.
SVC would tighten the Hawk lead once again in the bottom of the sixth, started off with a double down the left field line by sophomore shortstop Chris Nicastro (Cranford, N.J.) to plate freshman second baseman RJ Pingitore (Amsterdam, N.Y.). After Nicastro advanced to third on a wild pitch, Armstrong hit into a fielder's choice groundout that allowed Nicastro to come in to put Becker ahead only 9-7.
After the Hawks went down in order in the top of the seventh, Southern Vermont started the bottom of the inning with a lead-off walk to sophomore Jarod Hayen (Esperance, N.Y.). The next two Mountaineers would get out however, giving a bleak outlook for SVC fans. Nicastro was then able to leg out a single to short, and a walk to Armstrong left the bases loaded for Hernandez. Another wild pitch allowed the speedy Hayen to score to make it 9-8. Becker attempted to intentionally walk Hernandez to put a force out at any base, but a catcher's balk allowed the runners to move up and saw Nicastro score to tie it. Hernandez and Labadia then reached on walks, putting the bat in the hands of freshman third baseman Quinten Scott (Ashaway, R.I.). He wouldn't have to use it, however, as he was hit by the first pitch to bring in Armstrong for the game-winning run.
Northup got the win (2-1) for SVC after pitching a solid 5.1 innings from the pen, giving up just one run on five hits and three walks; he struck out four in his appearance. Senior Ben Keough (Attleboro, Mass.) suffered the loss (0-2) for the Hawks.
Pingitore went 3-5 in the game with the run scored while Armstrong, Hernandez and Nicastro each went 2-4 with an RBI. Nicastro and Armstong plated two runs while Hernandez scored three. LaBadia finished 2-3 with two walks, a run batted in and another scored, and Scott was 2-2 with two walks, a run scored and an RBI.
Kapulka finished the game 3-4 with three RBIs and a run scored on the Becker end. Marcello and senior rightfielder Tom Natoli (Suffern, N.Y.) were each 2-3 with a walk and run scored. Lajoie was 2-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Game 2 – SVC 6, Becker 5
Southern Vermont carried the momentum into the second game and jumped out to a 3-0 advantage after the first with a Hernandez RBI single to left, a Northup sacrifice fly to center, and a sophomore Sal Sciara (Massapequa, N.Y.) double to the left field gap.
Becker came back to make it 3-1 in the top of the second when Kapulka scored with a single to right center by senior third baseman Tony D'Addio (West Haven, Conn.).
The Hawks then added two more to tie it up in the top of the fourth on back-to-back jacks by Marcello and Natoli, respectively, over the right field fence to lead off the inning.
That stalemate wouldn't last long, however, as the Mountaineers came back in the bottom to put up a two spot, first with another Nicastro double to left and then a Pingitore sac fly to score D. Briggs.
However, the Hawks responded with another two in the top of the fifth when a double steal put two runners in scoring position for senior second baseman Austin Phillips (Thompson, Ga. ) who brought both in with a single to right to again tie it, this time at 5-5.
That score would hold until the bottom of the seventh when SVC would use walk-off dramatics to take the second win of the day. With runners on first and second, LaBadia rolled one to third where D'Addio stepped on the bag for the first out. After Hayen struck out for the second, Hernandez came through with a shot over the rightfielder's head that allowed Pingitore to round third and easily cross the plate for the winning run.
Northup was credited with the win (3-1) after pitching the top of the seventh, and sophomore reliever Brian Dowling (Naugatuck, Conn.) took the loss (0-2) after allowing the winning run on base before exiting the game in the seventh.
Hernandez finished 2-4 with the two RBIs, and Nicastro went 2-4 with a run batted in and run scored. Sciara went 1-3 with an RBI while LaBadia was 1-2 with two walks and a run scored.
Natoli went 2-3 for the Hawks with a run scored and an RBI, and Phillips was 1-4 with the two knocked in. Senior catcher Todd Tompkins (West Haven, Conn.) went 2-4 with a run scored, and Marcello was 1-3 with an RBI and another run scored.
"The mental toughness of this team is again exemplified by a come-from-behind win and battling for the entire seven innings in the second game," said head coach Dave Gage.
Southern Vermont and Becker join up for the rubber-match on Sunday at 12 p.m. on Bill Epstein Field.