Baseball Swept in Pivotal CCC Series

Baseball Swept in Pivotal CCC Series

WENHAM, Mass. – The Curry College baseball team lost both ends of a double-header Saturday afternoon at the hands of Gordon College. The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opponents were jockeying for position in the standings, entering the day separated by just a game and a half. With the win, the Fighting Scots improve to 7-22 overall while jumping the Colonels in the CCC at 2-7. Curry moves to 9-17-1 on the year with a 1-7-1 record in the CCC, a half game back of Gordon with five conference games remaining on the schedule for both squads.

Game One: Gordon 4, Curry 3

Curry got on the board first in this one, breaking through for a run in the top of the third. After threatening with a pair of runners in scoring position in the second, Michael Strizzi (Williamstown, Mass.) came across to score from second on a Tyler Jenkins (East Bridgewater, Mass.) single to make it a 1-0 game. In the bottom of the fourth, though, Gordon responded with a run of their own, as Joseph Mack (East Longmeadow, Mass.) drove home Matt Paulsen (Latham, N.Y.). The Colonels retook the lead in the fifth as Spencer Cookson (Sheffield, Mass.) singled home Jason Leonard (Dedham, Mass.), before Strizzi picked up an RBI of his own in the sixth to pad the lead at 3-1. The Fighting Scots went hitless through the sixth and seventh innings, getting shut down by Curry starter Zachary Wensley (Raynham, Mass.), but their luck would change as the eighth inning rolled around. Trailing by two entering the inning, John Lagerfeldt (Stratford, Conn.) singled to lead off the frame, before getting replaced at first by Paulsen after a fielder's choice. With one on and one out, Christian Hodge (Waltham, Mass.) tied the game with one swing as he sent a homer out to right center. Curry fought for the lead in the ninth, as Jared Keller (Oxford, Conn.) singled to start the inning, before moving to third after a groundout and passed ball. The junior would be left there, however, as a grounder and fly out got the hosts out of the jam. As the Scots came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, Wensley returned to the hill for his ninth inning of work with 103 pitches already thrown. Mike Oley (Barkhamsted, Conn.) got things started with a base hit, then moved to second on a sac bunt. Wensley was able to induce a fly ball for the second out as the top of the order rolled around, but with pitch number 114, his day would be done. Facing a 1-0 count, Daniel Quint (Wells, Maine) singled up the middle to drive home the winning run on his Senior Day, as Oley barely beat the tag of catcher Dylan Ketterer (Plymouth, Mass.), walking off in game one by a score of 4-3.

Strizzi and Keller each collected a pair of hits out of the top two spots in the lineup, while Wensley (1-6) is saddled with the loss, despite striking out four over eight and two thirds, surrendering three earned. Hodge went 2-for-4 in the win with a double and the game-tying dinger, but the biggest contributor is undoubtedly Joe Pedulla (Monroe Township, N.J., 2-6), who gave up just two earned runs while striking out three in his first complete game of the year.

 

Game Two: Gordon 13, Curry 3 (F/8)


The early scenes of game two hinted at another tight duel, but this time it was the Scots who struck first, driving home a pair in the bottom of the third. The Colonels clawed back to a tie with two runs in the following frame, despite just one hit in the inning. Curry starter Jack Needham (Raynham, Mass.) worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam to once again send the teams into the fifth with a tie score, but that is where the similarities to the front half of the twin billing would end. After Keller was stranded on third again, the Gordon offense exploded, retaking the lead with runs on back-to-back sacrifice flies in the fifth, before breaking the game open with a three-run sixth, highlighted by another Hodge double. Keller cut into the lead by driving home Strizzi on a double to left-center, but the hosts would get the run back and then some with another three-run inning in the seventh to make it 10-3. After Curry squandered back-to-back singles to lead off the eighth, a walk, error, and sac fly, all with the bases loaded, drove in three more runs for Gordon, as the Fighting Scots took a 13-3 lead and the game was called due to the deficit. In the blowout, the hosts scored 11 runs over their final three and a third offensive innings while Curry ended game two with more than twice as many errors as they had runs.

Gordon's top four spots turned in an impressive effort at the plate, combining to go 9-for-17 in game two, with four RBI and eight runs scored. Derek Hudson (Hudson, N.H., 2-4) earns the win after striking out five over seven innings before Mark Gadaleta (Chappaqua, N.Y.) locked down the win with a scoreless eighth. Needham (1-2) surrendered four runs on eight hits over four frames and walks away with the loss, while the Colonel bullpen gave up nine over three and two thirds. Despite the loss, Keller remained hot with the bat in his hands, going 3-for-4 with an RBI, registering a 5-for-9 day over both games.

Curry gets back on the field tomorrow, April 14 for a road game at Brandeis University. First pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. in Waltham, Mass. This match-up will be the seventh in six days for the Colonels who enter Sunday with a 2-4 record over the taxing stretch. Gordon will stay home to take on the Bears of Bridgewater State University on Tuesday, April 16. The non-conference tilt will get underway at 3:30 p.m. 

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