ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — The Southern Vermont College baseball team scored all seven of its runs in the last three innings Thursday afternoon, but it was just not enough as the Mountaineers lost 9-7 at Bard College in non-league action at Honey Field.
The Raptors improve to 4-20 on the season while SVC moves to 10-10 overall this year.
SVC senior right fielder Roland Hernandez (Pico Rivera, Calif.) went 2-3 at the plate with two walks, two runs and an RBI, knocking out his first home run of the season, while senior center fielder Sal Sciara (Massapequa, N.Y.) was 2-4 with a walk and two runs batted in.
Senior designated hitter AJ Watt (Sharon, Conn.) had a 2-3 showing at the dish, and freshman left fielder Niko D'Agnese (Mahopec, N.Y.) was 2-2 with a walk in the effort. Mountaineer right-handed starter Chris Bradt (Glenmont, N.Y.) took the loss (0-2) from the hill.
Neither side got a runner past first in the opening inning of play before Bard got on the board with a pair in the second. A two-out triple got the Raptor offense started, and an ensuing single brought home the first run of the day. After the batter had moved up to second on a throwing error, a single to right plated the second BC run. The hosts tacked up one more in the third with a two-out double, and Bard then scored once in the fifth on a run-scoring single to left for the 4-0 advantage.
SVC went down in order before a five-run home half of the sixth gave the Raptors a commanding lead. Southern Vermont answered in the top of the seventh with its first run of the game when a Sciara grounder to second brought freshman Eric Fields (Lakewood, Calif.) in from third.
The Mountaineers registered a five-run inning of its own in the eighth after two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases for SVC with no outs. Fields doubled down the line in right to score two, and a squeeze then pushed Hernandez across the plate to make it 9-4. A Sciara single to short saw Fields score his second run of the day, and a ground out to short allowed the fifth Southern Vermont run of the inning to cross home, trimming the deficit to 9-6.
After Bard went down in the bottom of the eighth, the Mountaineers attempted to finish off the comeback in the ninth. The first two batters were retired before Hernandez launched his second career home run to left to make it a two-run game. A final ground out back to the pitcher would seal the deal for the Raptors, however, as they wrapped up the victory.