CASTLETON, Vt. -- The Castleton University baseball team, competing in its final home series, dropped a Little East Conference doubleheader to nationally-ranked Southern Maine Friday afternoon at Spartan Field.
Southern Maine 9, Castleton 3
After holding the Huskies (25-8, 12-4 LEC) scoreless for two and a half innings, the Spartans (9-19, 6-10 LEC) struck first and took the lead in the bottom half of the third inning. Ryan Lawrence led off the inning with a long double that reached the center-field fence and advanced to third on a balk by the pitcher, Joshua Joy. Lawrence scored shortly after on an Armando Cardenas sacrifice fly out to the right field, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
The Huskies tallied three runs in the top half of the fourth inning, propelling themselves back into the lead. With Max Olmsted not allowing a hit through the first three innings, Sam Troiano doubled off the left-field fence as the runners as the Huskies quickly had runners in scoring position. Andrew Hillier then singled through the right side of the infield to tie the game at one. Later in the inning, Andrew Olszak tallied an RBI sacrifice fly, and Arlo Pike picked up an RBI single to right field, giving the Huskies a 3-1 lead.
The Spartans rallied and trimmed the deficit to one in the bottom half of the fourth inning as Adam Newton led off with a double to right field. After Jack Miller was struck by a pitch, Johnny McComas ripped a single to center field, scoring Newton, to cut the lead to 3-2. McComas was one of four Spartans to record a multi-hit game as he went two-for-three with one RBI and a walk.
The lead was extended in the top of the sixth inning as Aubrey Ramey entered the game in relief of Olmsted. Olmsted suffered the loss despite giving up only three runs on four hits while striking out three batters. The Huskies tallied three runs and took a 6-2 lead as Ramey was bombarded with four singles during the inning.
Three more runs were plated in the next two innings of action as the Huskies extended the lead to 9-2. The Spartans, however, sliced into the deficit in the bottom half of the eighth inning, scoring one run to cut the lead to 9-3. After Newton led off the inning with a single through the right side of the infield, Kannon Dush ripped a one-out double down the left-field line to advance Newton to third base. Newton later scored due to a wild pitch from the pitcher, Colton Lawrence.
Southern Maine 9, Castleton 0
Richard Walker earned the start on the mound for the Spartans as the Huskies jumped out to an early 3-0 first-inning lead. After recording the first two outs of the inning with a runner aboard, Hillier singled through the right side of the infield, scoring Tom Vesosky from second base. The Huskies plated two more runs as both Pike and Dylan Hapworth earned back-to-back bases-loaded walks.
The Huskies tallied six more runs throughout the rest of the game as four Spartan relievers saw action. Joseph Voli entered the game in relief of Walker as he pitched 2.1 innings, giving up two runs on two hits while recording a team-high four strikeouts. Meridius Pendell and Jake O'Brien had clean outings as the duo only gave up two hits between them.
Cardenas and Newton both tallied two hits as both had four hits in the two games played. Cardenas finished the afternoon four-for-eight with one RBI and two stolen bases. Newton finished four-for-seven, scored two runs, and swiped three bases.
Castleton returns to action Saturday, May 8, as it wraps up the 2021 regular season on the road at Southern Maine in a non-conference doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
