Nicklas Heminger
Sports Editor
The Rhode Island College Anchormen baseball team entered the week having won three games straight and posting a 15-10 record on the season. The Anchormen were 5-1 in Little East Conference play before their only LEC matchup of the week against UMass Dartmouth. RIC followed their game against Dartmouth with a game against Roger Williams University and a doubleheader against Suffolk University.
The Anchormen opened the week up at home against the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs. The Anchormen jumped out in front early, as RIC pushed across four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Lucas McElroy doubled to score the first run and then Cal Parrillo doubled to plate two more runs. Cole Podedworny singled to center to drive in the last run. Dartmouth got on the board in second, thanks to a fielder's choice to make it a 4-1 ballgame. RIC pushed the lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the third inning on a Izaiah Rivera single.
McElroy singled in the bottom of the fourth, driving in two runs to give RIC a six run lead. Cameron Santerre hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to expand on RIC’s lead, before a Joey Coro solo home run gave the Anchormen a 10-1 lead. Santerre drove in another run in the sixth inning with a triple before scoring himself on a wild pitch. RIC held a 12-1 lead going into the top of the seventh inning, where Darthmouth pushed another run across to make it a 12-2 game.
The game was called at the half inning due to a run rule and the Anchormen won 12-2 in seven innings. Connor Davey picked up his fourth win on the season, going six innings and allowing one earned run on three hits. Davey struck out four batters. Colin Gauthier pitched one inning, allowing one run on two hits while striking out one batter.
The Anchormen next hosted Roger William University. The Anchormen, once again, jumped out to the lead first as Parillo drove in the first run of the game on a fielder’s choice. The top of the second inning saw RIC fall behind as Roger Williams exploded for five runs. Rivera cut the Hawks lead to three in the bottom of the second. RIC knotted the game at five, when McElroy singled to drive in a run and Podedworny blasted a two-run homer. Daniel Trzepacz gave the Anchormen a 6-5 lead after a single to left plated a run.
The Anchormen blew the game open in the bottom of the seventh when Podedworny homered for the second time in the game and pushed the lead to 7-5. Trzepacz followed the home run with a double that scored three runs and gave RIC a 10-5 lead. The Hawks scored twice in the top of the eighth, but RIC held on to win by a final score of 10-7.
Shaun Gamelin picked up his sixth win on the season, going seven innings and giving up seven runs on six hits. Gamelin struck out 11 batters. Brenden Aldridge pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up one hit and striking out one batter. Gauthier picked up his third save on the season, going one and one-third innings while striking out one batter.
The Anchormen finished the week hosting Suffolk University for a doubleheader. The Rams entered action at 8-12 on the season. The first game started out as a pitcher’s duel as neither team pushed a run across until the fifth inning. The Anchormen struck first, as McElroy hit a sacrifice fly to give RIC a 1-0 lead. Podedworny pushed the RIC lead to four with a three run homer. Suffolk scored once in the top of the sixth to make it a 4-1 game.
The Anchormen exploded for six runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 10-1 game. McElroy drove in two runs with a double to right field. Then Parillo singled to score another two runs and Coro singled to right center to plate two more runs. Suffolk pushed a run across in the top of the ninth to make it a 10-2 game. The Anchormen crushed the Rams by a final of 10-2 in game one. Terry Murray picked up his fifth win of the season. Murray pitched seven innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out nine. Liam Dailey pitched two innings, allowing one run on two hits.
The second game started much differently for the Anchormen, as Suffolk hit a grand slam in the top of the first inning to take an early 4-0 lead. The Rams made it 5-0 in the top of the fourth, but the Anchormen bats woke up in the bottom half of the fourth. RIC’s Lucas Pierce doubled to center allowing three runs to score and making it a 5-3 game. Suffolk made it 6-3 in the top of the seventh, but a bases-loaded walk in the bottom half of the inning cut the lead to 6-4.
The Anchormen rallied in the ninth inning as McElroy doubled to make it a 6-5 game and Parillo singled a run home to tie the game at six. Podedworny walked off the Rams with a single into center field in the bottom of the ninth, as the Anchormen took the second game by a final of 7-6. Jason Grzysiewicz pitched two innings, giving up four runs on three hits. Harrison Mansfield pitched three innings, giving up one run on two hits and striking out six. Aldridge pitched one inning and gave up one hit. Gauthier picked up his second win of the year. Gauthier pitched three innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out four batters.
The Anchormen next travel to Western Connecticut State for an LEC matchup Tuesday.