PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Castleton baseball team dropped the opening game of the 2023 Little East Conference Championship Tournament to No. 1 seed Rhode Island College, 10-0, in seven innings Wednesday.
The sixth-seeded Spartans scattered five hits from five different hitters. Brandon Ramirez, Kannon Dush, and Ryan Lawrence each collected a single with a stolen base. Hunter Perkins drew a pair of walks and Tyler McLain reached via hit-by-pitch and swiped a base.
Starting hurler Riley Orr struck out six in a five-inning performance, allowing eight earned runs on seven hits and two walks. In one frame of relief, Joseph Voli held the Anchormen (29-11) to two hits while fanning one.
Evan Keegan added the game's first hit with a two-out single in the first inning but got stranded aboard. RIC took a decisive lead with five runs on five hits in the home half. Castleton got its leadoff batters on base in the second and third innings as the Anchormen prevented a score, upping the lead to 6-0 after three complete.
After Orr finished the fourth stanza in 1-2-3 fashion, Dush started the fifth inning with a single and dashed into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Lawrence. The fleet-footed junior swiped third base with two down as McLain took a pitch off the elbow, putting runners on the corners. McLain stole second before Keegan grounded to shortstop and was narrowly beaten by the throw, keeping RIC's lead unblemished.
Anchorman Cal Parrillo lifted a deep fly to center field, but an E8 put the cleanup hitter on third base. A sac fly one batter later bolstered the hosts' lead to 7-0, but Orr put away the next two to limit the damage. Jackson Cardozo and Brandon Ramirez kicked off the sixth stanza with singles, putting two on with one out. Ramirez stole second, but RIC fanned back-to-back Spartans to end the threat.
Voli entered the game with bases loaded as a balk brought one home, then Lucas McElroy's two-RBI single put the Anchormen in run-rule territory. Facing RIC's first reliever of the day, the Spartans went down in order to give the hosts a 10-0 opening-round win.
Castleton returns to action tomorrow, playing the loser of No. 2 seed Eastern Connecticut and No. 5 seed UMass Dartmouth in an elimination game. First pitch is at 9 a.m.
