Mitchell College Sports Roundup

Mitchell College picked up softball and tennis wins against Newbury College on Saturday, but was swept by Elms College in baseball. The following information was provided by David Longolucco, sports information director at Mitchell College, and Christopher Atwood, sports information director at Elms College:

Softball: Mitchell 5, Newbury 2; Mitchell 6, Newbury 5

The Mitchell College softball team won both games of a doubleheader against Newbury College on Saturday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference action at Alumni Field.

The Mariners (9-13 overall, 6-2 NECC) began the day with a 5-2 victory in the first game before rallying back from a four-run deficit to win 6-5 in extra innings in the second. Junior Meghan Burke (Bronx, N.Y./Preston) delivered a walk-off single in the eighth inning of the nightcap to score freshman Ashley Gladu (Pembroke, N.H./Bishop Brady) with the winning run.

Mitchell will next play at Southern Vermont College today at 2 p.m. Newbury (4-20 overall, 2-5 NECC) returns to action at home against Regis College today at 11 a.m.

Game 1 – Mitchell 5, Newbury 2

Newbury outhit Mitchell by an 8-5 margin but paid the price for four errors. The Nighthawks committed two errors on one play in the first inning that accounted for the Mariners’ first two runs of the contest. Freshman Lindsey Romagnino (Totowa, N.J./Passaic Valley) hit a fly ball that was dropped by an outfielder, and senior Brittany Zaccaria (White Plains, N.Y./Maria Regina) took the opportunity to score from second base. The throw home hit Zaccaria in the leg and bounded away, allowing Romagnino to round the bases and score as well.

The Mariners made it 3-0 with another run in the second inning. Freshman Dylan Riccardi (Elmont, N.Y./Sewanhaka) doubled with one out, moved to second on a wild pitch and later scored on a passed ball.

Newbury finally broke through in the sixth inning and cut the deficit to one on a two-run homer by Julia Flamenco (Copiague, N.Y./Copiague) over the left field fence. However, Mitchell added two insurance runs in the bottom of the frame on RBI singles by Burke and sophomore Chelsea Arpin (Killingly, Conn./Killingly) to make it 5-2.

The Nighthawks didn’t go down without a fight in the seventh. Newbury loaded the bases with only one out behind singles by Kaitlin McLaughlin (Dorchester, Mass./Archbishop Williams), Katie Haney (Winchendon, Mass./Montachusett Regional) and Jennifer Anderson (Palmer, Mass./Pathfinder Regional). But senior pitcher Marissa Thomas (New London, Conn./Saint Bernard) escaped trouble by getting a strike out and line out to end the game.

Thomas improved to 6-7 overall with the win and allowed two runs on eight hits while striking out six and walking none. Rebecca Roach (Charlton, Mass./Shepherd Hill Regional) took the loss for the Nighthawks, allowing five runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out six and walking five.

Game 2 – Mitchell 6, Newbury 5 (8 innings)

Mitchell went ahead 1-0 in the first inning when junior Tiffany Person (Waterbury, Conn./Crosby) led off with a double and later scored on a fielding error. Newbury answered back promptly with two runs in the second inning to take its first lead of the day. Roach doubled to start the frame and scored on a triple by McLaughlin, who then also scored on the play thanks to a Mitchell throwing error.

The Nighthawks added a run in the fourth on a ground ball by Nicole Cuneo (Norton, Mass./Norton) that scored McLaughlin from third base before tacking on two more runs in the fifth. Newbury executed a double steal to plate the first run in the frame and also got an RBI single from Haney to go up 5-1.

Mitchell put runners on base in every inning but could not cash in. The Mariners stranded a total of 10 runners over the first five innings and looked to be running out of chances.

Errors once again proved costly for the Nighthawks as they committed six in the game, including four in the sixth inning alone. The Mariners took advantage and scored four times to tie the game. Burke had an RBI single in the frame, but the other three runs scored due to Newbury miscues.

Neither side scored in the seventh inning, and with tiebreaker rule in effect in the eighth, Newbury attempted to sacrifice the go-ahead run over to third base. But a hard charge by Riccardi allowed her to cut down the lead runner at third, and sophomore Tricia Tomaselli (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) recorded two more outs to escape the inning unscathed.

Mitchell pinch ran with Gladu in the home half of the eighth and moved her over to third base on a sacrifice bunt by senior Stacey Suplicki (New London, Conn./Saint Bernard). The next Mitchell batter struck out before Burke laced a two-out single into right-center to bring home the winning run.

Tomaselli picked up the win in relief of Thomas and improved to 2-6 on the season. She didn’t allow a run in 3.2 innings of work and gave up one hit while walking four. Roach got the starting nod once again and allowed six runs (one earned) on eight hits over 7.2 innings. She also struck out five and walked seven while dropping to 4-13 overall on the season.

Baseball: Elms 6, Mitchell 5; Elms 5, Mitchell 4

Elms College senior left fielder Donny Morse (Alfred, Maine) went a combined 3 for 5 at the plate with four RBI and junior center fielder Steve Fisher (West Boylston, Mass.) notched his 100^th hit to help spark the Blazers to 6-5 and 5-4 victories over Mitchell College in Saturday’s New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) baseball double-header at MacKenzie Stadium.

With the wins, Elms improves to 10-15 on the season, 6-4 in NECC play, while Mitchell falls to 5-15 overall 4-7 in league action. The sides will play a single, nine-inning game on Sunday, April 15 in New London, Conn. at 2:00 p.m.

Elms 6, Mitchell 5

Mitchell got off to a fast start in game one, plating three runs in the top of the first frame on the strength of an RBI single by Will Charkowski (Cold Spring, N.Y.) and a two-run double by to right off the bat of Ethan Graynor (Leonia, N.J.) to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead.

Tyler Shultis (West Hurley, N.Y.) drove in a pair of runs in the top of the third inning to extend Mitchell’s lead to 5-0.

Elms answered with three runs in the bottom of the third frame when Morse singled in senior second baseman Nico Iavicoli (Hampden, Mass.), while a pair of runs scored on Mariners’ miscues allowing the Blazers to pull to within two at 5-3.

Elms’ sophomore right fielder Felix Montalvo (Carolina, Puerto Rico) scored on an error in the bottom of the fourth, before the Blazers used a pair of bases-loaded RBI walks to sophomore shortstop Alex King (Lebanon, Conn.) and Morse to give Elms a 6-5 lead.

From there, Elms’ junior reliever Ryan Burnette (Chicopee, Mass.) was able to keep the Mariners off the board and preserve the win, pitching two scoreless innings to improve to 2-3 on the season.

Mitchell starter Justin Lemanski (New Britain, Conn.) suffered the loss to fall to 2-3 overall.

Montalvo and senior third baseman Andrew Kravontka (Manchester, Conn.) added two hits each in the win.

Elms 5, Mitchell 4

Mitchell again got off to a quick start as Evan Peck (Shelton, Conn.) singled in Nick Carlson (Old Lyme, Conn.) and later scored on an error to give the Mariners a 2-0 advantage.

Elms cut the lead in half as Iavicoli ripped a two-out double and then scored on a single to left by Morse in the bottom of the first to set the score at 2-1.

After trading runs in the third stanza, Elms plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth as Montalvo cranked a triple to right center field scoring sophomore first baseman Zach Dreher (Naugatuck, Conn.), while Kravontka added an RBI single and Iavicoli earned an RBI free pass to give the Blazers a 5-3 edge.

The Mariners plated a run in the top of the seventh when Carlson doubled, moved to third on a fly out and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Charkowsky to cut Mitchell’s deficit to 5-4. Elms’ sophomore reliever Derek Leal (Charlton, Mass.) who entered in the top of the seventh for senior reliever Andrew Bunger (Southington, Conn.), tossed a strikeout to end the game and seal his third save of the season.

Elms’ sophomore starter Curtis LeBeau (Auburn, Mass.) pitched the first 5.1 to earn the win (3-3) while Mitchell starter Mike Sturges (New Britain, Conn.) suffered the loss.

Carlson connected for three hits to lead the Mariners in defeat, while Kravontka added two hits for Elms.

Men's Tennis: Mitchell 9, Wheelock 0

The Mitchell College men’s tennis team cruised to a 9-0 victory over Wheelock College on Saturday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference action at the Mitchell Tennis Courts.

Mitchell (6-0 overall, 6-0 NECC) swept all three doubles matches by 8-0 finals and took all six singles matches in straight sets.

The results were decisive in the top three singles matches. Freshman Rajan Bawa (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) defeated Charles Armstrong-Hicks (Windsor, Conn./Windsor) by 6-1, 6-0 finals at the No. 1 spot while junior Rocco Devona (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) handled Miles Carey-Snow (Brunswick, Maine/Kents Hill School) without dropping a game at No. 2. Senior Tyler Engleberg (Niantic, Conn./East Lyme) was victorious at No. 3 by scores of 6-1, 6-0 over Jeff Silveria (Wilmington, Mass./Merrimack Valley).

Senior Alexander Fusco (Saugus, Mass./Saugus) topped Scott Sobel (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) by 6-0, 6-0 finals at No. 5 singles. Classmate Andrew Small (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) and junior Randy Coons (Yonkers, N.Y./Brewster) each lost only three games in wins at No. 4 and 6, respectively.

Five of the Mariners who won a point in singles also contributed a point in doubles. Freshman Chris McKeon (North Scituate, R.I./Scituate) didn’t play singles but picked up a win at No. 3 doubles with Small as his partner.

Mitchell will next play at Becker College on Monday at 3:30 p.m. Wheelock (0-6 overall, 0-5 NECC) will next host Albertus Magnus College today at 1 p.m.