Baseball Comes Up Short at Coast Guard
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mitchell | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 6 |
|
Coast Guard | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | X | 13 | 22 | 6 |
NEW LONDON, Conn. - All nine Coast Guard starters recorded a hit and scored a run as the Bears baseball team tallied a 13-11 come-from-behind win against cross-town rival Mitchell College on Wednesday afternoon in non-conference action.
Eleven different players recorded hits on the day for Coast Guard (13-8 overall) as it defeated Mitchell (10-8 overall) for the fifth consecutive time, dating back to 2008.
With Coast Guard leading 11-9 entering the seventh, Riley Beecher (3-1) came on to pitch but surrendered a pair of runs in the top of the frame that allowed the Mariners to tie the game. Gavin LaLima delivered a two-run single to left that plated both runs and made it 11-11.
In the bottom of the eighth, Blake Thompson lined a single to right that scored one run before a Mitchell fielding error allowed a second run to cross. This time, Coast Guard held the lead for good.
The Bears put themselves behind the proverbial eight ball early on by spotting Mitchell four unearned runs in the top of the first inning on just one hit, courtesy of three errors, a walk, and a hit batsman. Kenneth Olszewski, Rafael Garcia and Neftali Arroyo each recorded an RBI in the inning.
Coast Guard responded quickly though as back-to-back one-out doubles by Mark Behne and Nolan Gallagher got Coast Guard on the scoreboard. The Bears used three more hits in the inning to knot the game at 4-4.
The tie would be short-lived, however, as Mitchell used two more Coast Guard errors and two hits to put up yet another four-spot in the top of the second for an 8-4 lead. Drew Doyle had an RBI single in the frame to lead the Mariners.
The pitching settled in a bit from there, as neither team scored again until Mitchell scored an unearned run in the top of the fourth. Coast Guard pushed across two runs of its own in the bottom half on a Gallagher sac fly and an RBI-single by Mike Massaro.
The Bears tied things up at 9-9 in the fifth with a two-run single to left by Lukas Laplante and a bases loaded walk by Massaro. Coast Guard took its first lead of the game in the next inning as Cameron Carroll came in to score from third on a wild pitch with Joe Petry at the dish. Petry followed that run up with a double to left before coming in to score on another base-hit by Laplante.
After the Bears reclaimed the lead in the seventh, Curt Barrett and Tyler Vieira came on to work a pair of scoreless innings to secure the victory, with Vieira recording his sixth save of the season.
Mitchell starter Josh Zurita lasted 4.0 innings and gave up six runs (five earned) on 12 hits. Reliever Jeff Dowling took the loss, working 1.0 inning and giving up two runs on two hits.
Mitchell returns to action at home against Daniel Webster College on Satuday, April 6. The first game of the scheduled doubleheader begins at noon.
