Suffolk, Castelton State Sent Home from ECAC/NCAA DIII New England Regionals

HARWICH — Suffolk University and Castleton State’s baseball teams were sent packing from B.F.C. Whitehouse Field yesterday as six teams remain in contention for the NCAA DIII New England Regional Championship title and a chance to go to the DIII World Series. (Box score)

Ramapo College, Salem State, Wesleyan and MIT each won their respective games in the double-elimination tournament, while Southern Maine and Curry College lost and face elimination today. (See below for today’s game schedule at Whitehouse Field)

Southern Maine’s Nick Bowie watches the flight of the ball in early action at the NCAA DIII New England Regionals at Whitehouse Field in Harwich.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports

Ramapo freshman Connor Walsh (Waldwick, N.J.) went 3-for-5 with three trips to home plate and two RBI to help lift the third-seeded Roadrunners to a 12-4 triumph over seventh-seeded Curry in the fourth game of the second round game played at 7:45 pm last night.

Ramapo (30-14) moves on to the winners’ bracket final to take on fourth-seeded Salem State at 4:30 p.m. today while Curry (24-14) takes on MIT at 1:15 p.m.

The Roadrunners scored seven runs over the first three frames of play, pushing across five tallies in the top of the second, taking advantage of a pair of miscues by the Colonels.

Following an RBI single by Walsh, senior Brandon Berger (Belvidere, N.J.), junior Ryan Rinsky (North Caldwell, N.J.) and sophomore Robert DeAngelis (Staten Island, N.Y.) all scampered home on a throwing error by the pitcher off of an infield single.

Walsh and junior Rafael Dela Cruz (Elizabeth, N.J.) then scampered home for Ramapo in the top of the third for the commanding 7-0 edge.

Curry answered back in the bottom of the third as senior Derek Pizarro (Cambridge, MA) rapped out a single to help score freshman William De La Cruz (Bronx, N.Y.) before junior Kyle Connors (Stoughton, Mass.) touched the plate on a misplayed ball by the centerfielder to slice into the deficit.

The Roadrunners built up their margin to 9-2 on a RBI single by senior Scott Peschiani (Harriman, N.Y.) in the sixth and a sacrifice fly by sophomore Robert DeAngelis (Staten Island, N.Y) to help bring in Berger, who tripled in the very next stanza.

The Colonels strung together five base knocks in seven at-bats with run producing appearances by freshman Evan Morris (Pembroke, Mass.) and junior John Arens (Milton, Mass.) to narrow the gap to 9-4, but left a man at every base as senior Tom Portesy (Flanders, N.J.) got out of the jam with a strikeout.

Southern Maine’s Jake Welch reacts to the pitch about to hit him in Thursday’s opener of the NCAA DIII New England Regionals at Whitehouse Field.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports

Ramapo put the game away with three runs in the top of the eighth. Walsh and senior Rich Policastro (Lodi, N.J.) had consecutive RBI solo safeties down the right field line while Walsh notched his third tally of the game on an errant throw by the second baseman trying to double off a man at first.

Portesy (9-1) fanned nine over eight innings of work as he allowed four earned runs on eight hits with three walks.

Sophomore Brian Burke (Swampscott, Mass.) absorbed the loss and fell to 4-2 on the season. Burke surrendered eight runs (one earned) off nine hits to go with five strikeouts and three walks.

Dela Cruz was 3-for-5 with one run and an RBI while Berger finished with two base-knocks and he scored a pair of runs. Morris and Pizarro both went 2-for-4 as De La Cruz had two of Curry’s four runs.

Salem State — 10
Southern Maine — 1
Box Score

In the game preceding the Ramapo-Curry match-up, fourth-seeded Salem State University scored nine runs in the opening two innings of its game with top-seeded Southern Maine en route to a 10-1 finale.

With the win, the Vikings (27-13) will remain in the winner’s bracket and play today at 4:30 p.m. against Ramapo College. The Southern Maine Huskies (32-14) will take on Wesleyan in an elimination game this morning at 10:00 a.m.

On the way to a 2-for-5, five RBI performance, senior captain Ryan Beliveau (Lynn, Mass.) jump-started the Salem State Vikings in the top of the first. Already leading 1-0 after Southern Maine misplayed a force-play at home, Beliveau came up with the bases loaded and two outs and drilled a bases-clearing double to left-center field to extend Salem State’s lead to 4-0.

The top-seeded Southern Maine team faces postseason elimination today.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports

Salem State kept the momentum going in the second inning as junior Richard Fecteau (Newbury, Mass.) smacked a single down the right field line to drive in a pair of runs. Fecteau finished the day 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBI.

Following a sacrifice fly, Beliveau capped off the Vikings’ scoring burst with a two-RBI triple that gave Salem State a 9-0 margin.

In addition to Beliveau and Fecteau, sophomore Andrew Deloury (Andover, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with a double, a run, and a stolen base while senior Kevin Carens (Northborough, Mass.) went 3-for-5 with two runs and two stolen bases.

The Huskies pressured the Vikings in the top of the second as they loaded the bases, but were unable to push any runs across.

After junior right-handed pitcher Ryan Browner (Georgetown, Mass.) replaced left-handed senior Dan Kinnon (Londonderry, N.H.) in the bottom of the seventh, sophomore Teghan Malionek (Salem, Mass.) scored the tenth run for the Vikings on a Fecteau infield hit.

The Huskies pushed one across the board in the top of the eighth, as sophomore Damon Wallace (Gorham, Maine) doubled to left field and eventually reached home on a sacrifice fly from Sam Dexter (Oakland, Maine).

Sophomore right-hander Mike Richardson (Belmont, Mass.) kept the Huskies’ potent offense at bay for much of the afternoon, allowing just five hits over eight innings and striking out four in the win.

Junior left-hander Tyler Leavitt (North Andover, Mass.) took the loss for Southern Maine, falling to 5-2 on the season.

Sophomore Matt Bender (Walpole, Mass.) was the lone repeat hitter for the Huskies, going 2-for-4 on a pair of base-knocks up the middle.

Wesleyan — 7 
Castleton State — 4
Box Score

Wesleyan University erupted for five runs in the top of the eighth inning on the way to a 7-4 win over Castleton in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Division III New England Baseball Regional on Thursday at Whitehouse Field.

Down 3-2 with just six outs left, the Cardinals (29-10) were able to rally in the second to last frame to avoid elimination and will now await the loser of Salem State University and University of Southern Maine at 10 a.m. on Thursday. Castleton, who made its third NCAA appearance in the last four seasons, completes the season with an overall record of 31-12.

Junior Marco Baratta (Tenafly, N.J.)​ smacked an RBI triple to score Guy Davidson (New York, N.Y.) from first and tie the game at three apiece. Davidson reached on a one-out single. Senior Sam Goodwin-Boyd (Florence, Mass.) followed Baratta, executing a suicide squeeze to provide the Cardinals a 4-3 lead. Wesleyan built off of the momentum of the squeeze as Goodwin-Boyd scored on a wild pitch and sophomore Nick Micelli (West Hartford, Conn.) blasted a two-run home run over the left-field fence.

NESCAC Pitcher of the Year Sam Elias (Norwood, N.J.) notched the win for Wesleyan, allowing one earned run and striking out four in three innings out of the bullpen. Junior Gavin Pittore (Roslindale, MA) registered the no-decision, throwing six innings, yielding three unearned runs and striking out eight.

At the plate, senior Donnie Cimino (Westwood, N.J.) tallied a team-high three hits while Baratta and Nick Micelli (West Hartford, CT) each knocked in a pair of runs. Junior right-hander Sam Spencer (West Bolton, Vt.) took home the loss for the Spartans, relenting just one earned run and striking out five in seven innings of work.

The Cardinals opened the scoring in the top of the third off of a Cimino single to left field that drove in Ellis Schaefer (Newtown Square, Pa.). Senior Andrew Yin (Potomac, Md.) scored next on an unearned run, giving Wesleyan a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Spartans capitalized on a few Wesleyan miscues to strike for three runs. After back-to-back hits by sophomore Nick Swim (St. Albans, Vt.) and junior Dan Errico (West Hartford, Conn.), Castleton took a 3-2 lead on an error by the Wesleyan centerfielder, a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch.

Castleton scored again in the ninth as they attempted to come back from the four-run deficit. Senior Tyler Hoare (Waterbury, Vt.) tripled with one-out and scored the final run of the game on a base hit by sophomore Soren Pelz-Walsh (Dummerston, Vt.).

MIT — 4
Suffolk — 0
Box Score

MIT sophomore right-hander David Hesslink (San Diego, Calif.) threw eight innings of shutout ball to lead fifth-seeded MIT to a 4-0 victory over eighth-seeded Suffolk University on Thursday morning and thus eliminated the Suffolk nine from contention.

With the win, the Engineers (26-13) stay alive in the double elimination tournament and will play the winner second-seeded Wesleyan University today at 1:15 p.m. Suffolk finishes the season at 18-26 overall after making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009 and fifth time in school history.

In recording his fifth win of the season, Hesslink allowed just six hits in eight innings of action wile striking out four and walking two. Junior right-hander Michael Wymer (Flower Mound, Texas) capped off the triumph with a scoreless ninth.

Suffolk third baseman Drew Carter gets bowled over in this play at third base in early action at the NCAA DIII New England Regionals at Whitehouse Field.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports

Senior right-hander Frank Tierney (Hyde Park, Mass.) notched the loss for the Rams, yielding four runs and striking out five in a complete-game effort.

Offensively, junior Nate Rodman (Corvallis, Ore.), senior Reid Bishop Cypress, Texas) and senior Hayden Cornwell (Newport Beach, Calif.) all knocked in runs while sophomore John Drago (Peoria, Ariz.) and freshman Austin Filiere (Chandler, Ariz.) each collected a pair of hits.

The Engineers were first to score when Rodman’s two-out RBI double drove in Drago in the bottom of the first. A slow grounder from Bishop to Suffolk shortstop Sean Cameron (Milford, Conn.) then allowed Cornwell to cross the plate, giving the Engineers a two-run lead.

MIT tacked on a couple more runs in the eighth after loading the bases with no outs. Cornwell knocked a sacrifice fly for the Engineers’ third run while a throwing error on the same play allowed a fourth run to cross the plate.

The Rams had their opportunities to cut into the MIT lead, but left five men on base, three in scoring position during the the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

— Special thanks to the Eastern College Athletic Conference for providing recaps of the games. Edited by Capecod.com Sports Editor Sean Walsh