HAVERHILL, Mass. – Mitchell College completed the three game sweep of Lesley University as the Mariners clipped the Lynx 6-2 in the New England Collegiate Conference three game series finale this afternoon at Trinity Stadium in Haverhill, Mass. With the win, the Mariners improve to 20-3 on the season and 11-1 in the NECC while the loss drops the Lynx to 8-18 overall and 5-9 in conference play.
Mitchell sophomore Axel De Jesus (Stratford, Conn.) earned the win on the mound for the guests, throwing 7.2 innings while holding the Lynx to just one run on five hits while striking out nine. The right-hander improves to an even 2-2 on the season with the victory.
Senior Rafael Garcia (New Britain, Conn.) led the Mariners offense as he turned in a 3-for-5 perfomance at the plate with a double and three RBI. Fellow seniors Evan Peck (Shelton, Conn.), Ryan Goodwin (Tunkhannock, Pa.), and Peter McTernan (Union, N.J.) each recorded a pair of hits for Mitchell to help power the offensive attack.
Lesley junior Casey Blanchard (Bernardston, Mass.) and freshman Justin Clark (Chino Hills, Calif.) each had a hit and a run scored for the hosts while senior David Hersey (Wolfeboro, N.H.) added a single and an RBI.
Lynx senior Ray Cohen (Coventry, Conn.) was charged with the loss as he allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits and striking out five over eight innings of work. Sophomore Koby Mitchell (Fall River, Mass.) threw one inning of scoreless relief for the hosts.
The Mariners opened the scoring in the third inning as Garcia laced a two run single to left field with two outs that plated freshman Kyle Hartenstein (Meriden, Conn.) and senior Gavin LaLima (Waterford, Conn.).
Garcia came through with two outs once again in the top half of the fifth inning when he doubled down the right field line to score Peck and extend the Mariners lead to 3-0.
Mitchell, who had their leadoff batter reach base in six of the nine innings, added single runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth to cap their scoring.
The Lynx finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh inning. Blanchard and Clark both single to reach with one out before senior Kevin Hopwood (Winter Haven, Fla.) loaded the bases as he reached on an error in the Mitchell infield. Lesley scored their first run of the afternoon when Hersey followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield, but De Jesus would escape the jam without any further damage as he forced a ground out to end the inning.
Down five runs heading into the bottom of the ninth, Lesley placed runners on the corners with one out and added a run as sophomore Mike Slaby (Foxboro, Mass.) drove a sacrifice fly to right field, but their rally fell short as Mitchell reliever Troy Stango (Holland, Mich.) forced a groundout to the short stop for the final out of the game to preserve the win for the Mariners.
Both teams will return to the diamond for non-conference games on Tuesday as the Lynx will travel to Eastern Nazarene College at 4:00p while the Mariners will head to the Coast Guard Academy for a 3:30p start.