NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- For the second day in a row, the Castleton University baseball team earned a non-conference doubleheader split against Little East Conference (LEC) foe UMass Dartmouth Saturday afternoon at the UMD Baseball Field.
Castleton 6, UMass Dartmouth 4
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Spartans (5-5, 3-1 LEC) fell behind early as the Corsairs (3-7, 2-4 LEC) plated the opening run during the bottom half of the first inning. With Aubrey Ramey earning the start for the Spartans, he struck out the first batter he faced before walking Erik Ramirez. DJ Perron followed up with a double to right field, and a throwing error on a groundball off the bat of Mike Knell gave the Corsairs a 1-0 lead.
Starting pitcher Dean Streich kept the Spartans off the board until the top half of the third inning as Ryan Lawrence earned a walk for the Spartans' second base runner of the game. After Hunter Perkins singled through the left side of the infield with one out, Evan Keegan reached on a throwing error, plating both Lawrence and Perkins to give the Spartans a 2-1 advantage.
Ramey continued to pitch well for the Spartans as he kept the Corsairs at bay until the fifth inning. In the top half of the inning, the Corsairs tied the game at two as Jose Vasquez led off the inning with a single up the middle. Frank Celona followed with a sacrifice bunt, pushing Vasquez to second base. A Tucker Hetherman single the next at-bat scored Vasquez as the Corsairs evened the scoring.
The Spartans regained the lead in the top half of the sixth inning and never looked back. After the first two outs were recorded on a Samuel Rodriguez pop-up and an Adam Newton strikeout, Johnny McComas tripled to right field. The Spartans had two runners aboard after Armando Cardenas was struck in the head by a pitch. With Addison Schaub at the plate, McComas and Cardenas pulled off a double steal as the Spartans regained the lead.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Perkins cleared the bases as he lined a double to center field, giving the Spartans a commanding 6-2 lead.
As Ramey exited the game before the start of the eighth inning, the Corsairs chipped away in the final two frames as two runs crossed on home runs from Ramirez and Hetherman. Riley Orr was able to shut the door as he pitched the final two innings, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out one batter.
Ramey earned the win, pitching seven strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits, and striking out four batters.
UMass Dartmouth 9, Castleton 0
The Corsairs fought back and defeated the Spartans in game two of the doubleheader as Joseph Voli earned the start.
The Spartans saw themselves down 2-0 after the first inning and were unable to recover. Voli finished the game pitching five innings, giving up six runs on five hits while recording one strikeout.
Meridius Pendell saw his first action of the season as he came into the game in relief of Voli in the sixth inning. Pitching a clean inning, Pendell saw three batters and recorded every out. Nik Bistrovich also saw his first action on the mound, giving up two runs on two hits while also recording his first-career strikeout. Richard Walker was the final Spartan to make an appearance on the mound as he pitched one inning and gave up one run on three hits.
Zac Willis was the lone Spartans to record multiple hits during the contest as he recorded his first-career double. Evan Keegan continued to hit as he recorded a single in the fourth inning to increase his hit streak to 10Â straight games.
Castleton returns to action Tuesday, April 13, as it takes on Plymouth State in a Little East Conference matchup at Spartan Field. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
