MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College baseball team salvaged a split with visiting Middlebury College on Sunday afternoon in non-conference action at the Jack Vallely Diamond. The Panthers took the first game by a 2-0 final but the Colonels took the nightcap 6-5 on a walk off. Curry moves to 6-11 overall while Middlebury now sits at 6-10.
GAME ONE
Sam Graf (Loma, Colo.) contributed two RBI doubles in a shutout of Curry in game one. Graf stepped to the plate in the top of the first and drove the ball the right field to drive in Brooks Carroll (Davidson, N.C.).
The next four innings would see no scoring and then in the top of the sixth, Graf registered his second RBI double that drove home Gray Goolby (Austin, Texas) to close the game's scoring.
Carroll, Jason Lock (Foster City, Calif.), Graf, and Justin Han (Vienna, Va.) paced the visitors with two hits each. Ryan Rizzo (Needham, Mass.), Goolsby and Raj Palekar (New Rochelle, N.Y.) closed the offensive output with one hit apiece. Justin Cage (Glendora, Calif.) recorded both of Curry's hits in game one.
Andrew Martinson picked up the win on the mound for the Panthers. He tossed five innings, only allowing one hit while walking two and striking out four. Conor Himstead (Wellesley, Mass.) picked up the save, registering one inning of work. He struck out one to record his first save of the season.
Brian Burke (Swampscott, Mass.) was credited the loss for the Colonels. He went five and a third innings, surrendering two runs on nine hits while striking out three and walking two.
GAME TWO
Rizzo opened the game two scoring for Middlebury with a single to center to score Phil Bernstein (Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif.) to make the score 1-0 in the top of the second.
Curry answered in their half of the second when Adam Duarte (East Providence, R.I.) registered a single to center, which scored Nick Crivello (Millville, Mass.).
The Colonels tacked on another in the fourth, thanks to Jack Kallinich (Madison, Conn.) reaching on an error that allowed Crivello to cross home.
This back and forth contest swayed back in favor of the Panthers in the fifth. Kevin Woodring (Norwalk, Conn.) singled to get the scoring started in the frame. The base knock scored Carroll to knotted the game up at two. Middlebury regained the lead after an RBI groundout by Bernstein, which scored Lock to move the score to 3-2.
Curry had the answer in their half of the fifth when Vincent LoPriore (Boston, Mass.) grounded out to shortstop. The ball was deep enough to score John Cave (Tewksbury, Mass. The Colonels wasted little time in regaining the lead, which took place in the sixth. Michael Moreau (Marshfield, Mass.) recorded a pinch hit RBI double to score Matt Fogarty (Millis, Mass.) to take the lead, 4-3.
The Panthers struck back in the top of the seventh when Palekar doubled to center to score two. The two-bagger scored Han and John Tipps (Nashville, Tenn.) to reclaim the advantage, 5-4.
Curry had one more shot to claim the victory and they tied and won the game on the same play. Cave scored on a wild pitch and Alex McLean (Eliot, Maine) followed to tally the game-winning run for the walk off victory.
McLean and Tyler Jenkins (East Bridgewater, Mass.) led the Colonels with two hits apiece in the victory. Four others tallied a hit each to close the column for the home team.
Carroll and Lock paced Middlebury with two hits each. Four others tallied one hit apiece.
James Mello (Fall River, Mass.) picked up the victory on the hill for the Colonels. He went one inning while giving up two runs on one hit. The freshman also walked one. Jake Stalcup (Manchester, Vt.) was credited the loss for the Panthers.
Curry returns to the diamond on Tuesday for a home non-conference game against Suffolk at 3:00 p.m. Middlebury will next play Friday at home against Hamilton in a conference contest starting at 4:00 p.m.
