Strong Pitching Leads Baseball to Sweep of Lyndon State
NEW LONDON, Conn. – A pair of strong pitching performances
led the Mitchell College baseball team to a doubleheader sweep over
Lyndon State College on Saturday afternoon by final scores of 9-0
and 7-2.
Starters Jeremy Chapman and Garrett
Cornwell each turned in impressive performances on the mound.
In the first game, Chapman threw a one-hit shutout and struck out
nine in a complete-game effort. Cornwell then followed with a
six-inning stint in the second game, allowing two runs on three
hits while striking out nine. The win was the first of the season
for Chapman while Cornwell improved to 2-0.
Mitchell’s bats were hot in the first game of its home
opener. The Mariners pounded out 13 hits and scored runs in every
inning but the third. Eight of the nine Mitchell batters finished
with a hit led by a 3-for-3 effort from freshman Justin
Szela, who also drove in a pair of runs.
The Mariners got on the scoreboard early behind an RBI single from
sophomore Ethan Graynor in the first. Mitchell also tacked on
another run due to a Lyndon State error to stake Chapman to a 2-0
lead.
The Mariners continued to score runs in bunches. Junior Jeff
Perillo plated a pair of runs in the second inning with a
single through the left side, and senior Paul
Martinez put the Mariners up 6-0 in the fourth with a two-run
homer over the left-center fence. In the fifth, Szela smacked a
single to left that scored two more runs to make it 8-0. Junior John
McGarry added the finishing touch in the sixth, driving in the
final run of the game with a triple to left-center.
Chapman, who hasn’t allowed an earned run in 13 innings this
season, kept the Hornets off balance the entire game. The only hit
he allowed—a double to Ben Clark in the fourth—came
because a fly ball got caught up in the wind and carried just out
of the outfielder’s reach. Chapman also showed excellent
control on the hill, striking out nine without issuing a single
walk.
In the second game, the Mariners vaulted out to a quick lead with a
three-run first inning. After freshman Taylor
Grabill drove in a run by being hit by a pitch, senior Andrew
Langlais followed with a double down the left field line to
score two more runs and give Mitchell a 3-0 advantage.
Lyndson State had a chance to get back in the game in the fourth
after loading the bases with no outs, but Cornwell got out of the
jam unscathed. After recording the first out with a strike out,
Cornwell got the next batter to ground to third, and Perillo fired
home to cut down the runner at the plate. Cornwell then
punched out the final batter of the frame to keep the Mariners up
3-0.
Mitchell added three runs in the bottom half of the fourth to take
control. Perillo delivered a two-out, bases-loaded triple down the
right-field line to provide all the damage. The Mariners later
added a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Langlais, who finished
3-for-3 with three RBI in the game.
The Hornets finally broke through in the sixth, hitting up Cornwell
for two runs and two hits. Sam Orfanidis got things going with a
two-out, pinch-hit single, and Patrick Hilton followed with a
two-run blast over the left field fence.
Junior Cody Faddis pitched the final inning for the Mariners,
retiring all three batters he faced. Cornwell gave up two runs on
three hits in six innings of work and struck out nine while walking
five.
Isaac Earle took the loss for the Hornets in the first game,
allowing six runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings. Shane Fleury got
the start in game two and gave up six runs on six hits in four
innings and struck out seven while walking three.
Mitchell returns to action on Wednesday, March 31 with a single
game at Johnson & Wales at 3:30 p.m.
