CASTLETON, Vt. -- The Castleton University baseball team split a pair of games Tuesday afternoon, earning a win in the second game of the doubleheader against Plymouth State at Spartan Field.
Plymouth State 4, Castleton 3
With game one of the doubleheader counting towards Little East Conference (LEC) standings, the Spartans (9-13, 6-6 LEC) fell behind in the top half of the first inning. With Max Olmsted on the mound, the Spartans recorded the first two outs of the inning as Olmsted tallied a strikeout and forced Drew Metzdorf into a groundout to third base. The Panthers (6-7, 2-5 LEC) struck first the next at-bat and took a 1-0 lead on a James Salta home run to left field.
Olmsted, earning his fifth start of the season, was the pitcher of record as he allowed four runs on five hits while striking out three batters.
Salta came through once again in the top half of the third inning as the Panthers doubled the lead. Joe Routhier led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second base on a Sokolski sacrifice bunt. After Metzdorf popped out, Salta ripped a single through the left side of the infield, giving the Panthers a 2-0 advantage.
The Spartans quickly cut the deficit in half as Reece de Castro blasted a home run over the left-field fence to get the Spartans on the board. De Castro, who tallied his second home run in five games, leads the team in home runs with three.
Home runs came in bunches as the Panthers took the lead back in the top half of the fifth inning. After Richie Marique led off the inning with a single up the middle, Alex Rives laced a two-run RBI home run over the left-field fence to give the Panthers a 4-1 lead.
The Spartans, refusing to stay down, rallied in the bottom half of the seventh inning as the team scored two runs to cut into the deficit. With one out on the board, de Castro tallied his second hit of the game and reached with a single to third base. Evan Keegan followed with a bullet home run that exited the park over the left-center field fence as the Spartans continued to trail 4-3.
Castleton 9, Plymouth State 8
In a back and forth second game, the Panthers, once again, scored the first runs of the game, tallying three in the top half of the fourth inning. As the Spartans sent in two pitchers during the inning in relief of starter Riley Orr, the Panthers pounced and took the lead on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded. The Panthers quickly added two more runs as Peter Laviolette tripled to right field, scoring both Rives and Andrew Salta to give the Panthers a commanding 3-0 lead.
The Spartans responded and cut into the deficit in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Keegan led off the inning with a single to center field, followed by an Adam Newton single, advancing Keegan to third base. Kannon Dush, playing in his first game since April 4 at Keene State, came up and fluttered a single to left field, scoring both Keegan and Newton to get the Spartans on the scoreboard.
Trailing 4-2 heading into the bottom half of the sixth inning, the Spartans tallied three runs to take the lead for the first time all afternoon. The Spartans earned three walks in the first four batters of the inning to load the bases and cut the Panthers' lead to 4-3. Ryan Lawrence came through and singled through the left side of the infield, scoring Dush from third base. Two more runs scored as de Castro reached on a throwing error from the third baseman as both Lawrence and Jeremy Johnson scored to give the Spartans a 5-4 lead.
The Panthers tied the game and later took the lead as Griffin Crane punched a one-out single through the right side of the infield, scoring Sokolski from second base to tie the game at five in the top half of the seventh inning. The Panthers tallied more runs the next inning as the team took control and gained an 8-5 advantage. With Joseph Voli on the mound for the Spartans, the Panthers took the lead on a Metzdorf RBI double to right field. The Panthers with two free runs as Crane recorded a bases-loaded hit by pitch, and Andrew Salta earned a walk to extend the Panthers' lead.
The Spartans answered and tallied four runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning to regain the lead. Johnny McComas led off the inning with a single on a squeeze bunt down the third baseline and advanced as he swiped second base. Two straight hits for the Spartans plated McComas as Zac Willis tallied his first hit of the game followed by a Johnson RBI single to left field to cut the lead to 8-6.
Two more runs came through to tie the game as Lawrence reached base on a throwing error, plating Willis from third base. Johnson scored to tie the game at eight during the next at-bat as Armando Cardenas reached on a fielder's choice. With two on and two outs, Voli put the Spartans up for good as he punched his first career hit through the left side of the infield, scoring Cardenas to give the Spartans a 9-8 advantage.
Voli also earned his first career win on the mound as he pitched the final two innings of the game, allowing three runs on two hits.
Castleton returns to action Friday, April 30, as the Spartans host Eastern Connecticut State in a Little East Conference doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
