CASTLETON, Vt. - The Spartans took advantage of last-inning error by New England College to earn a 3-2 walk-off victory in the nightcap of their doubleheader, after pounding out a 16-3 victory in the opener against the Pilgrims on Tuesday afternoon at Spartan Field.

After New England College tied up the contest at two apiece in the top of the seventh, the Spartans earned a pair of one-out walks from Adam Greenlese (Shokan, N.Y.) and Mat Pause (Hartford, Vt.) to put runners in scoring position for senior David Brandt (Contoocook, N.H.). Brandt hit a chopper that the first baseman couldn't handle and Greenlese was able to make it around from second for the game-winning run.

The victories pushed Castleton's record to 17-8 on the season and a perfect 12-0 in NEAC play. It also extended the team's win streak to 12 games. NEC drops to 15-10 on the season and 5-9 in conference play with the two losses.

In the opening contest, the Spartans got on the board in the first when Brandt reached on a throwing error by the catcher to lead off the frame. He moved to second on a grounder, and after stealing third, scored on a single to the shortstop by Ryan Zielinski (Schenectady, N.Y.).

NEC responded in the top of the second as Kevin Caputo (Dighton, Mass.) led off the frame with a single. He advanced to second on a groundout and came home from second on a hit by Luca Burgess (Bath, N.H.). Each of the next two batters reached, loading the bases for Jordan Hubbard (Mount Vernon, N.Y.). Hubbard was hit by a pitch, scoring a run and giving the Pilgrims a 2-1 lead. With the bases still loaded, Cameron Curler (Vergennes, Vt.) caught a liner a short and flipped it to second for the double play to end the threat.

In the bottom of the second, three of the first four Spartans walked to load the bases for Brandt. He hit a grounder which was on its way up the middle before the shortstop snagged it, touched second and fired on to first. The throw to first was off line, allowing Brandt to reach safely and Matt McNamee (Pawling, N.Y.) Greenlese to score for the 3-2 advantage. Brandt then created his own offense, stealing second, and then third and home on consecutive pitches to give Castleton a 4-2 lead.       

The Pilgrims got a run back in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly by Pierce Byrd (Ft. Myers, Fla.) to score Chris Biskup (So. Portland, Maine) from third and cut the Castleton to a single run.

Greenlese singled to lead off the bottom of the fourth and came around to score on a groundout by Brandt. Pause was able to advance to second on the play, and a single by Curler put runners on the corners with one down. Zielinski followed with a double to the wall in left-center, scoring both runners.

The Spartan offense took advantage of a number of miscues in the fifth to put six runs on the board and grab a 13-3 advantage. Each of the first three runners in the inning reached, loading the bases for Brandt. He was hit by a pitch and Curler followed with a run-scoring single. Both eventually came around to scored, as did Zielinski, who walked to get on base.

Castleton added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to earn the 16-3 victory.

Senior Tyler Erickson (Naugatuck, Conn.) earned his fourth win of the season, throwing 5.0 innings while allowing seven hits and striking out three. Ben Schoeneberger (Vernon, Conn.) followed with two scoreless and hitless innings of relief. At the plate, Zielinski was 3-for-3 with four RBI to spearhead the offense.

Chris Wallace (Manchester, N.H.) took the loss for the Pilgrims, giving up seven runs, four earned in 4.0 innings of work. He also struck out three batters and walked six.
NEC got on the board first in the nightcap, plating a run in the top of the third. With one out, Tyler Perrin (Thetford Ctr., Vt.) and Hubbard hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second. One out later, both runners advanced on a passed ball and Perrin eventually scored on a throwing error for the 1-0 lead.

The Spartans responded in the bottom of the frame with one of their own to knot the score at one as Pause doubled with one out and Curler eventually rocked a triple to score his catcher.

An inning later, Castleton scored an unearned run courtesy of a pair of NEC errors.  Borowski led off the frame with a double to the wall in right and came around to score on consecutive errors for the 2-1 lead.

The Pilgrims threatened in the top in the fifth, putting runners on the corners with just one out. However, starter Patrick Riley (Strafford, Vt.) was able to induce a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning unscathed.

It remained 2-1 until the top of the seventh. Burgess and Juan Berrios (Ft. Myers, Fla.) singled to lead off the inning and then advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt. Perrin followed with a flyout to right that scored Burgess easily to tie the game, 2-2. Riley ended the threat with a liner to Zielinski at second, setting up the late-game drama.

Riley finished with the complete-game victory, scattering nine hits over seven innings while allowing one earned run and striking out a single batter. Pierce Byrd was saddled with the loss, despite allowing just four hits over 6.1 innings and giving up just one earned run while striking out a pair of batters. Borowski finished 1-for-2 for the Spartans in the contest.

Castleton returns to action on Thursday when the team travels to face Amherst at 3:30 pm for a single nine-inning contest.