HOLYOKE, Mass. — Southern Vermont College scratched across two runs in the eighth, but hosting Elms College was able to close out a 6-4 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) win Sunday afternoon in the third game of a home-and-away baseball series concluded at MacKenzie Stadium.
Elms (12-12, 7-6 NECC) never trailed after putting up one run in the second and two in the third. SVC (10-13, 3-6 NECC) tallied a run in the fifth and sixth, while the Blazers added one to make it a 4-2 game, before EC chalked up a pair in the home half of the seventh to go up by four.
The Mountaineers answered with two in the eighth to close the gap, but Elms got itself out of the jam and closed the out the contest for the series sweep.
The Mountaineers are back in Conference action Tuesday as they start a mid-week NECC series at home with Becker College, playing a single nine-inning game at 4 p.m.
SVC senior shortstop Chris Nicastro Jr. (Kenilworth, N.J.) had a 3-5 day at the plate, knocking in three runs out of the two-hole. Sophomore catcher Anthony Mercuri (Ridge, N.Y.) continued to have a solid bat with his fourth multi-hit game in his last five played, going 3-5 in the effort.
Freshman designated hitter Niko D'Agnese (Mahopec, N.Y.) was 2-3 with a pair of runs scored while junior second baseman RJ Pingitore (Amsterdam, N.Y.) went 2-5 with a run scored. Freshman left fielder Eric Fields (Lakewood, Calif.) chipped in with a 1-5 showing, knocking in a run and scoring another.
Mountaineer sophomore righty Dylan Angelo (Ft. Johnson, N.Y.) took the loss (0-3), striking out five in his 6.1 innings on the mound.
After Elms went up 3-0 in the third, Southern Vermont got on the scoreboard to trim the lead. D'Agnese worked a one-out walk before moving into scoring position on a ground out to third. He then came around to score as Nicastro tallied his first hit of the day.
The Blazers answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Mountaineers came right back with one in the sixth to keep it a two-run game. A Pingitore lead-off single resulted in a run after he moved around to third on a Mercuri base hit; Fields followed with the run-scoring knock to make it a 4-2 ballgame.
That score stood until EC made it a 6-2 contest with a pair in the seventh, but again Southern Vermont matched in the ensuing half inning. With the bases loaded and only one out, Nicastro tagged a two-run double for the Mountaineers to get back within two.
Elms pitching retired the next five SVC batters, however, as the hosts closed out the victory.