CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton State College baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader with visiting Norwich University, winning the opener 10-2, and coming up short in a comeback attempt in the nightcap 13-10. 

In the opener Dakota Aker (Schenectady, N.Y.) tossed a complete game two-hitter to earn the win, allowing just two unearned runs while striking out eight Cadets.
 
Allen White (Rutland, Vt.) provided all the offense Aker needed, going 3-for-3 with four RBI and a run scored. Pete Wagner (Brattleboro, Vt.) and Matt McNamee (Pawling, N.Y.) each collected a pair of hits, scored twice and drove in a run to aid the offense.
 
Devin Cilley (Tunbridge, Vt.) singled and scored to pace the Cadets.
 
The Spartans plated four in the first, one in the second and four more in the third and were never seriously threatened thanks to Aker's prowess on the mound.
 
All of Castleton's damage came with two outs in the opening inning. With two out and two on Wagner singled up the middle to plate David Brandt (Contoocook, N.H.) who walked and stole second to lead off the frame. An infield single by McNamee loaded the bases, and White followed with a single up the middle that scored Joe Borowski (Schenectady, N.Y.) and Wagner.
 
An Adam Greenlese (Shokan, N.Y.) sacrifice fly plated the lone Spartan run in the second, and White provided another two-run single in the third to break things open.
 
J.J. Losco (Wakefield, Mass.) led the Cadets to the win in the nightcap with a 3-for-5 performance and four RBI. Dustin Shimkus (Collinsville, Ill.) and Stephen Beardsley (Olney, Md.) each had two hits and an RBI.
 
Ryan Zielinski (Schenectady, N.Y.) led the Spartans with three hits, while Macyn Clifford (Brookline, N.H.) went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Borowski added a pair of hits and an RBI and Cameron Curler (Vergennes, Vt.) went 2-for-3 with three runs.
 
The Spartans led 7-4 before a seven-run fourth inning staked the Cadets to an 11-4 lead. Losco, Shimkus and Charles Schaub (East Hampton, Conn.) each provided RBI singles after a Spartan error with one out in the inning. After a walk and a run-scoring single from Devin Robbins (Monmouth, Maine) chased Castleton starter Brandon Fay (South Burlington, Vt.), relief pitcher Adam Greenlese allowed back-to-back singles to Brandon Place (Concord, N.H.) and Beardsley to plate two more runs. Another error gave Norwich its seventh tally of the frame, before Greenlese struck out the final two batters of the inning.
 
The teams traded two-run innings in the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth, setting up a wild finish as the Spartans tried to come back.
 
Trailing by four in the last of the seventh, Zielinski got the rally started with a one-out single and Curler followed with a walk. Borowski kept it going with a single, scoring Zielinski and cutting the deficit to 13-10. Wagner struck out and McNamee hit a soft grounder between first and second that turned into an infield single, loading the bases for White. White knocked a bounding ball between first and second that forced first baseman Seth Knihtila (Westminster, Mass.) to go to his right. He fielded the ball cleanly, took a few steps and dove at first base, barely beating out a diving White to clinch the victory for the Cadets.
 
Scott Yashinski (Kintersville, Pa.) picked up the win in relief, pitching two-and-one-third innings, allowing two runs on three hits.
 
Castleton returns to the diamond Wednesday when the Spartans host Colby-Sawyer in a 2 pm North Eastern Athletic Conference East Division twinbill.