NEW LONDON, Conn. – Lesley University dropped the first two games of the New England Collegiate Conference weekend series against Mitchell College by final scores of 7-1 and 15-5 on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field on the Mitchell campus.
Rafael Garcia (New Britain, Conn.) went 4-for-6 with four doubles and five RBI on the day to lead Mitchell (19-3 overall, 10-1 NECC). Gavin LaLima (Waterford, Conn.) finished with five hits in the doubleheader while Neftali Arroyo (New Haven, Conn.) went 4-for-6 with a homer, two doubles, three RBI and four runs scored.
Gustavo Polidor (Caracas, Venezuela) went 3-for-6 with a pair of doubles and scored twice to pace the Lynx (8-17 overall, 5-8 NECC).
Mitchell starters Al Jordan Johnson (Groton, Conn.) and Tyler Shamas (Westbrook, Conn.) each picked up wins on the mound and improved to 5-0 on the year.
The two teams will wrap up the three-game series with a nine-inning game on Sunday at Trinity Stadium in Haverhill, Mass. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
Game 1 – Mitchell 7, Lesley 1
Mitchell struck for three runs in the bottom of the first to seize control in the opener. LaLima reached base on a single deep into the hole at short and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Kenneth Olszewski (Canterbury, Conn.). The Mariners tacked on the next two runs on a sacrifice fly by Garcia and a RBI single by Ryan Goodwin (Tunkhannock, Pa.) to stake Johnson to the 3-0 lead.
The Mariners added a run in the third when Olszewski got things started with a flare into right field. After Olszewski moved into scoring position on a ground out by Evan Peck (Shelton, Conn.), Garcia drove a double into the right-center gap to bring in the run.
Polidor got the Lynx on the scoreboard in the fourth. He led off the frame with a double to right-center, tagged up and advanced to third on a fly ball to right, and scored on a wild pitch.
Arroyo led off the Mitchell fourth with a single to center and moved up a base on a wild pitch. He later scored from second base on a single by Peter McTernan (Union, N.J.n) that scooted under a backhanded stab by the Lesley first baseman.
In the fifth, Garcia belted a one-out double down the left field line and later scored on a double by Arroyo that one-hopped the center field fence. Tyler Pina (Plainville, Conn.) followed with a single up the middle to plate Arroyo and extended the lead to 7-1.
Lesley put runners on base in every inning but the seventh and stranded seven runners in the contest. Johnson went the distance on the hill for the Mariners, striking out six and allowing one run on four hits. Tom Muratore (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) gave up seven runs (four earned) on 10 hits in six innings and struck out three.
Game 2 – Mitchell 15, Lesley 5
The Mariners nearly matched their hit total from the opener in the first inning of the nightcap. Mitchell sent 12 batters to the plate in the frame and pounded out eight runs on nine hits. LaLima and Kyle Hartenstein (Meriden, Conn.) each recorded a pair of hits in the inning while Arroyo supplied a two-run homer to dead center, his first long ball of the season.
Singles by David Hersey (Wolfeboro, N.H.) and Casey Blanchard (Bernardston, Mass.) set the table for the Lynx in the second. Shamas should have gotten out of the jam unscathed, but an errant throw extended the inning and allowed Hersey to score from third base.
Mitchell got the run back in the home half of the second when Peck, who led off with a double down the left field line, scored on a fielding error. The Mariners then pushed across two more runs to extend the lead to 11-1 as McTernan and LaLima added back-to-back RBI singles.
In the third, another Mitchell error put the leadoff runner in scoring position for the Lynx, and Polidor cashed in with his second double of the day to bring the run home. After moving to third base on a passed ball, Polidor scored on a ball put into play by Kevin Hopwood (Winter Haven, Fla.) to cut the deficit to 11-3.
The Mariners put three on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the third to pump the lead to double digits. Garcia's fourth double of the day plated the first run and put runners on second and third for Goodwin, who pushed across another run with a sacrifice fly. Drew Doyle (Mystic, Conn.) then plated Garcia with a ground ball to the right side of the infield to pick up his first RBI since returning from injury.
Olszewski capped Mitchell's scoring with a RBI single in the fourth, and Shamas made it through five innings before turning the ball over to the bullpen. The Lynx added their final two runs in the top of the seventh on consecutive RBI singles by Justin Clark (Chino Hills, Calif.) and Mike Slaby (Foxboro, Mass.).
Shamas gave up three runs—all unearned—on five hits and struck out two in 5.0 innings of work. Eddie Santiago (New London, Conn.) tossed 1.1 shutout innings of relief while Clayton Shaw (Union, N.J./Union) secured the final two outs of the game. Lesley's Nick Iadevaio (Mineola, N.Y./Mineola) took the loss in the start for the Lynx.
Release courtesy Mitchell College Sports Information