NASHUA, N.H. – Southern Vermont College put itself in commanding position for a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) baseball postseason berth Wednesday afternoon when the Mountaineers swept a doubleheader at Daniel Webster College's Harvey Woods Field with 7-2 and 5-3 victories.
With three league games left on the regular season schedule, SVC now sits at fourth in the conference standings with a 7-8 NECC record, 13-17 overall. The Mountaineers control their playoff destiny which will be determined this weekend with the final conference series against Elms College. Daniel Webster drops to 10-17 on the year and 6-10 against the league with two NECC games; those are also against Elms, to be played on Monday at DWC.
GAME 1: Southern Vt. 7, Daniel Webster 2
The Mountaineers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first of game one, only to have Daniel Webster trim it to 2-1 in the bottom half of the inning. A four-run third put SVC ahead for good as each team tallied a lone run in the ninth for the 7-2 final.
Southern Vt. sophomore left fielder Richard Rios (Pico Rivera, Calif.) was 2-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored while sophomore second baseman RJ Pingitore (Amsterdam, N.Y.) added a 1-3 showing, working a walk, knocking in a run, and scoring two more. Junior right fielder Roland Hernandez (Pico Rivera, Calif.) was 2-4 at the dish, batting in a run and stealing a base in the win.
Mountaineer freshman right-hander Dylan Angelo (Ft. Johnson, N.Y.) had a tremendous performance on the hill, allowing just one earned run while picking up the seven-inning complete game victory to improve to 4-2 from the bump this season; he allowed six hits while striking out two. Eagle senior righty Ariel Ramos (Lowell, Mass.) suffered the loss (0-3), giving up seven runs (four earned) on eight hits and five walks while striking out six.
DWC sophomore right fielder Devin DeCarteret (Pelham, N.H.) collected the only RBI for the hosts in game one, going 1-3 with a walk. Senior Manny Cabral (Tewksbury, Mass.), junior Kyle Brigham (Hudson, N.H.), and freshman Dakota Williams (Hudson, N.H.) each registered a double as their lone hit of the contest. Junior Dan Ierardi (Dunstable, Mass.) scored both of the Eagle runs.
Pingitore hit a double in the top of the first to get the scoring started, and he then came home on a Hernandez single to make it 2-0. Daniel Webster used a delayed double steal effort with runners at the corners to cut it to 2-1 in the bottom of the frame, Ierardi plating while DeCarteret got caught in a run-down.
That score stood until the third when the Mountaineers tacked up four runs, the first on a ground-out back to the pitcher with runners on second and third. A pair of Eagle miscues allowed the next two runs to plate, and Rios capped the inning with a run-scoring double to left.
SVC made it a 7-1 ballgame in the seventh when junior center fielder Sal Sciara (Massapequa, N.Y.) wore a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in sophomore Quinten Scott (Ashaway, R.I.). Daniel Webster tried to manufacture a late-game comeback, but an RBI single by DeCarteret would be the only scoring the Eagles could manage as Angelo finished them off for the win.
GAME 2: Southern Vt. 5, Daniel Webster 3
DWC took a quick advantage in game two with a lone run in the first, and the Eagles followed with another run in the second to go ahead 2-0. They held that lead until the fourth when Southern Vt. went on top with three runs; Daniel Webster responded, however, in the bottom of the inning with a single run to tie things at 3-3. After two scoreless frames, the Mountaineers notched two runs in the final inning for the 5-3 lead before sophomore closer Erik Johansen (Rosendale, N.Y.) wrapped up the game with his third save of the season.
SVC junior first baseman Cody LaBadia (Howes Cave, N.Y.) was 2-4 with three runs batted in and another scored, and Hernandez added a 1-3 appearance with a walk and an RBI. Junior shortstop Chris Nicastro Jr. (Kenilworth, N.J.) was 2-4 with two runs scored, putting him at 99 hits in his three-year career. Pingitore went 2-3 with a walk and two runs scored in the back-end of the doubleheader.
Mountaineer senior lefty Kurt Kowalczyk (Amsterdam, N.Y.) picked up the win, moving to 3-2 on the year after giving up three runs (one earned) on four hits and five walks. The SVC starter struck out two batters on the day before Johansen came in and struck out the side in order to close the game out.
Eagle graduate John Hickson (Springfield, Mass.) took the loss (1-2) after giving up the go-ahead runs in the seventh. Ierardi recorded three of the four DWC hits, going 3-3 with a walk and two RBIs; he also stole two bases and scored a run in the effort.
A Mountaineer mishap allowed Cabral to score in the first for Daniel Webster, giving the hosts the quick lead. Ierardi knocked in a run in the second to then put his team ahead 2-0.
With two ducks on the pond in the fourth, LaBadia roped a triple to score them both and tie the game. He then scored on a passed ball for the 3-2 advantage.
Another Ierardi run-scoring single tied it once again in the bottom of the fourth for a 3-3 score that held until the top of the seventh. LaBadia came through on an infield hit with the bases loaded for what would be the game-winning score, and the Mountaineers added an insurance run with another bases-loaded infield single, this time by Hernandez. Johansen was no match for DWC in its last trip to the plate, getting the first batter to go down looking before inducing two Eagles to fan at strike three.
The Mountaineers now turn to a non-conference tilt at Mass. College of Liberal Arts on Thursday slated to start at 4 p.m. DWC hosts Brandeis University Thursday for a 3:30 p.m. non-league first pitch.