Baseball Splits in Battle of NECC's Top Teams

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team split a doubleheader against Daniel Webster College on Sunday afternoon in a battle of the NECC’s top teams. The Mariners came from three runs down to win the opener 4-3 but dropped a 7-6 decision in the second game.

Daniel Webster (13-10 overall, 6-2 NECC) remained a full game ahead of Mitchell (10-9 overall, 5-3 NECC) for first place in the conference standings. The teams will wrap up a three-game series with a nine-inning affair on Monday, April 19 in Nashua, N.H. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

Game 1 – Mitchell 4, Daniel Webster 3

Freshman Connor Rochefort delivered a walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh inning to score sophomore Tommy Derosier with the winning run. Senior Jeremy Chapman picked up the win on the mound, improving to 4-0 on the season.

Mitchell didn’t get off to the best start, as the Eagles came out and hit up Chapman for three runs on four hits in the first inning. Bruce Brown and Nick Michaud each had RBI singles in the frame while Rich Lizotte also plated a run with a sacrifice fly.

Chapman eventually settled into a groove and kept the Mariners in the game. After walking the first batter of the second inning, he retired the next 16 Eagles in a row and gave up only one hit the rest of the game.

Daniel Webster starter Kory Kiro ran into trouble in the fourth. After junior Jeff Perillo led off with a double, Kiro loaded the bases by hitting and walking the next two Mitchell batters, respectively. A one-out walk to senior Jared Bishop brought in the Mariners’ first run of the game, though Kiro looked to be out of the jam when freshman Justin Szela hit a ground ball to short. The Eagles tried to turn an inning-ending double play, but a bad throw to first ended up going out of play and allowed the tying runs to score.

The Eagles had a chance to take the lead in the top of the seventh. Zach Cantor hit a one-out single to give Daniel Webster its first base runner since the second inning. He then stole second base and advanced to third on a wild throw, just 90 feet away from plating the go-ahead run. Chapman recorded the second out via strikeout, setting the stage for a dramatic play that ended the half inning. Midway through Nick Lalumia’s at-bat, Cantor broke for home for the attempted steal but was gunned down when Chapman fired to Szela in time for the tag.

Derosier led off the seventh with a double down the left field line, and two batters later Rochefort followed suit with a shot to left. Five of Mitchell’s six hits went for doubles, including two by Perillo.

Chapman, who entered the game with the lowest ERA in the nation, gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits in 7.0 innings and struck out eight while walking one. The two earned runs he allowed in the first inning were more than he had allowed in his previous 27.0 innings this season.

Kiro took the loss for the Eagles, dropping to 3-2 on the season. He gave up four runs (two earned) on six hits in 6.1 innings and struck out five while walking four.

Game 2 – Daniel Webster 7, Mitchell 6

Daniel Webster pounded out seven hits and took advantage of seven Mitchell errors en route to victory. Skyler Gregorek pitched 2.0 scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win while Lizotte threw 3.0 innings to nail down the save.

The Eagles jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning as Mitchell kicked the ball all over the field. The Mariners committed four errors in the frame while starter Garrett Cornwell yielded two hits and hit a batter. Lalumia singled to drive in one of the runs, though the other three scored due to fielding miscues.

The Mariners got back three runs back in the bottom of the first thanks to patience at the plate and two Daniel Webster errors. Perillo, who went 3-for-4 in the game, drove in the first run with a single to left. Eagles starter Noah Shaw then walked three straight batters to force in the second run, and the final run scored via an error on a ground ball put into play by Bishop. Shaw worked his way out of the bases-loaded jam by striking out the final two batters of the inning as Daniel Webster clung to a 4-3 lead.

Mitchell went ahead 5-4 in the second inning on a two-run single by sophomore Ethan Graynor. The lead would be short lived, however, as Daniel Webster tied the game in the third on a ground out by Cantor that scored Michaud. The Eagles then took the lead in the fourth when Elliot Kilgore scored from third on a wild pitch.

Daniel Webster’s final run came in the sixth on yet another Mitchell fielding error. The Eagles needed the extra run, as Perillo bashed an opposite field homer in the bottom of the frame to pull the Mariners to within 7-6. It was his team-leading fourth home run of the season.

A leadoff single by senior Andrew Langlais put the tying run on base for the Mariners in the seventh, but Lizotte retired the next three batters to secure his second save of the season. Cornwell took the loss for Mitchell, dropping to 3-1 overall. He gave up seven runs (one earned) on seven hits in 7.0 innings while striking out five and walking one.