TUCSON, Ariz. — The Southern Vermont College baseball team couldn't hold onto an early lead Wednesday morning as the Mountaineers fell 16-7 to Augsburg College in their final game played in the Tucson Invitational Games.
SVC led 6-2 after the top of the first, but the Auggies came back to go ahead 9-6 following the conclusion of the fourth inning. AC then padded its cushion in the later frames to seal the win.
Southern Vermont (3-9) next gears up to start the New England Collegiate Conference schedule with a weekend home-and-away series against Mitchell College. SVC will hold its Opening Day at Bill Epstein Field on Saturday, first pitch of the league doubleheader being scheduled for 12 p.m.
Mountaineer sophomore third baseman John Arancio (Oradell, N.J.) went 3-4 at the dish with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. Senior shortstop RJ Pingitore (Perth, N.Y.) and sophomore left fielder Luigi Magliocca (Broadalbin, N.Y.) were both 2-4 with two runs batted in and another scored, and junior right fielder Niko Horwith (La Crescenta, Calif.) turned in a 1-3 showing at the plate with a run-scoring double and a walk.
SVC junior R.J. Henle (Plantation, Fla.) took the loss with his first start on the hill this season (0-1) as four Mountaineers came on in relief. Pingitore tossed the final 1.2 innings for Southern Vermont, striking out four Augsburg hitters in the appearance.
Pingitore kept the top of the first alive with a two-out single through the left, and he was then able to trot all the way around the diamond as freshman first baseman Cody Sullivan (Brunswick, N.Y.) stepped up to the plate and sent the first pitch he saw over the fence in left for his first collegiate home run and the 2-0 SVC lead.
Augsburg tied the game right away with a two-run homer of its own in the bottom of the frame and then threatened to go in front by getting a runner into scoring position. A sharply hit grounder to third was snagged by Arancio, however, as he laid out to grab the ball before retiring the side at first.
Southern Vermont regained its upper hand in the next box with four runs on four hits. Arancio got things going with a deep fly to right field that hopped over the wall for the ground-rule double, and an ensuing walks then put a pair of SVC runners on base. Magliocca fought through a tough at bat, fouling two pitches off his leg before digging in and ripping a single through the left side; the Mountaineers had the hit-and-run on, allowing Arancio to touch third and easily make his way home.
Freshman center fielder Zack Stacey (Saratoga, N.Y.) followed up with an RBI single of his own sent out to left, and Pingitore would soon-after add a base hit sent back up the middle that brought home the pair on board, making it a 6-2 SVC advantage.
The scoring continued into the bottom of the second as the Auggies trimmed their deficit with two runs before Southern Vermont nearly added to its separation in the top of the third. The Mountaineers got runners to second and third, but AC was able to cut down the runner headed home on a grounder to third to help get itself out of the inning.
The bottom of the third is when Augsburg took its first lead of the day, one that it would not relinquish the rest of the way. The Auggies scored four times on two hits while getting help from an inning-extending SVC miscue down the line in right. Another AC run in the fourth made it a 9-6 upper hand for Augsburg, a score that would hold until the top of the sixth. Arancio tagged his second double of the day to lead-off the inning, and a sacrifice bunt then moved him up to third. Magliocca came up big again, blooping one the other way into right field to get the Mountaineers back within two.
AC had an answer, however, tacking up one of its own in the bottom of the box. The Auggies then put up five in the seventh to go ahead comfortably heading into the final stretch of the game. SVC left one on base in the eighth and went down in order in the ninth as Augsburg finished off its victory.