AUBURNDALE, Fla. — Southern Vermont College dropped a 23-6 decision Tuesday afternoon to Franklin & Marshall College in seven innings during the RussMatt Baseball 2015 Central Florida Invitational at Lake Myrtle Park.
The Diplomats used five home runs to stay undefeated, moving to 5-0 on the year. Southern Vermont drops to 3-3 with the setback.
SVC junior second baseman RJ Pingitore (Amsterdam, New York) went 1-2 at the plate with a walk, knocking out a home run for a pair of RBIs and a run scored. Lead-off senior center fielder Sal Sciara (Massapequa, New York) was 1-2 with two runs scored while senior right fielder Roland Hernandez (Pico Rivera, California) went 1-2 with a stolen base.
Franklin & Marshall freshman first baseman Dan Marano (Maple Shade, New Jersey) was 4-5 with the stick, knocking in four runs while scoring three more. Sophomore designated hitter David Iacobucci (Malvern, Pennsylvania) went 3-5 with two home runs and seven RBIs on the day.
Sophomore Eric Bateman (Flemington, New Jersey) picked up the win (1-0) for the Diplomats, giving up just two earned runs (two unearned) on five hits in five innings on the bump. Southern Vermont junior right-hander Brandon Casella (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) suffered the loss (0-1) in his first collegiate start. Both starting pitchers struck out three batters on the day.
F&M put four runs up in the top of the first before SVC cut the deficit in half with two of its own in the bottom of the frame. The Diplomats scored six more through the next three innings and added nine in the fifth to put too much separation between themselves and the Mountaineers.
Casella got the first F&M batter to go down swinging, but the Diplomats then started making some noise with a pair of blasts out to the fence; Marano started the action with his two-bagger to left center, and, after a walk to junior third baseman Matt Mezansky (Larchmont, New York), junior right fielder Mike Smeriglio (Redding, Connecticut) cranked one to deep center to bring both runners around. The hard hits continued as Iacobucci got all of one, sending it clear over the fence in left for the two-run dinger. Casella bounced back, getting the next two batters on a foul out and a ground out to retire the side.
Southern Vermont answered with a pair in the bottom of the frame, getting a homer of its own to close the gap. Sciara wore a pitch to lead-off the inning, and Pingitore then stepped into one to send his second round-tripper of the season over the fence in left. A nice range-and-throw by junior shortstop Brett Poniros (Mamaroneck, New York) and a great dig out of the dirt by Marano on the next at bat wrapped up the box with F&M ahead 4-2.
A bunt single put a Diplomat on first in the top of the second, but a well-turned double play by the SVC middle infield sent the Mountaineers back to the plate. Hernandez led-off with a hot shot back up the middle, and he then stole second to get into scoring position with no outs. Bateman was able to work himself out of it, however; he painted the outside corner for a called third strike and got the next batter to wave for the second out. A chopper to the left side saw Hernandez break for third, but Mezansky corralled and threw the ball to Poniros covering second to get the Mountaineer as he tried to retreat.
Franklin & Marshall put runners on the corners in the top of the third when Mezansky reached via an error and motored around to third on a shallow Smeriglio single to left center. Iacobucci scored the runner from third on the ensuing plate appearance, ripping a shot over junior Richard Rios (Pico Rivera, California) at third for the 5-2 lead. A failed pickoff of Smeriglio put runners on the corners once again, and Iacobucci moved up to second on a shallow pop out to center by sophomore catcher Christopher Vincent (Montclair, New Jersey); Smeriglio broke for home on the catch but put on the breaks, drawing the throw to the plate that allowed the F&M catcher to advance 90 feet. That's as far as the runners would get, however, as Casella hit his spot to ring up sophomore center fielder Cory Hecht (Plainview, New York) looking for the third out.
The Diplomats wouldn't stay in the field long, retiring the Mountaineer side in order with a pair of fly outs and a final strikeout. F&M then added another five in the top of the fourth to increase its cushion. Sophomore Tyler Daley (Kensington, Maryland) hit a come-backer up the middle to get aboard and moved up on a passed ball. He was then able to score as Marano fought through a lengthy at bat before poking one out to center. An SVC miscue extended the inning, and a walk then loaded the pond for the Diplomats. Iacobucci continued his stellar day with his second blast to left for the grand slam that put F&M on top 10-2.
SVC got back to the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame with a lone run. Rios ripped a shot down to third, and the ball was knocked into foul territory when Mezansky laid out in an attempt for the snag; the Mountaineer junior made his way up to second as the ball squirted to the fence. After Rios moved up to third on a wild pitch, he scored on an F&M infield error for the third Southern Vermont run.
Franklin & Marshall continued to apply the pressure into the fifth with a pair of homers extending the lead. A walk preceded a frozen rope to right center off the bat of Daley, a shot that landed and skipped all the way to the fence; as SVC tracked it down, the Diplomat put on the jets to make it all the way around the diamond for the inside-the-park home run. Another shot out of the park followed as F&M took a sizeable lead it would carry to the victory.
SVC concludes its visit to the Sunshine State on Wednesday with an 8:30 a.m. first pitch against Alfred State College before heading back to Vermont. F&M takes on Babson College at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday in Winter Haven, Florida.