Baseball falls to Trinity 4-3 in ten innings

Courtesy of Trinity Athletics

Hartford, CT- With a pair of runners in scoring position and two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, junior Bryan Wolfe (La Habra Heights, Calif) sent a single through the left side to plate the winning run as the Trinity baseball team defeated visiting Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 4-3, on Wednesday afternoon. The walk-off win was the first of the season for the Bantams, who have won two in a row to sit at 8-12 overall, while The Trailblazers dropped their 11th straight to fall to 2-13.

Rory Slattery had three hits to lead MCLA while Mike Sullivan and Chase Preite each had two.

Scott Cullinane (East Greenwich, R.I.) started the rally in the 10th with a one-out and the next batter, junior Evan Abraham (Pacific Palisades, Calif.), was hit by a pitch by MCLA reliever Nate Alibozek (Adams, Mass.). After a fly out to centerfield allowed the runners to advance, Wolfe delivered the game-winning hit.

Freshman Christian Reynolds (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) retired the only batter he faced in the top of the 10th with two runners on to register his first collegiate victory. Alibozek was saddled with the loss, tossing 1.2 innings and allowing just one run on one hit.

MCLA struck first, plating a run in the top of the first as Rory Slattery (Pittsfield, Mass.) knocked an RBI double to left. In the home half of the frame, Trinity rallied to plate a pair as Daniel Pidgeon (Darien, Conn.) tied the game at one with a run-scoring single and later Carson Kenney (Kensington, Md.) grounded into a double play that brought Abraham charging home.

In the top of the fourth, the Trailblazers tied the game at two as Chase Preite (North Adams, Mass.) smacked an RBI single. Over the next three and a half innings, the two teams would play scoreless baseball until Abraham hit a deep fly ball to centerfield that was misplayed and allowed Nick DiBenedetto (Fort Myers, Fla.) to score from third to give Trinity a 3-2 lead.

In the next half inning, MCLA rallied to force extras with a run off Bantams closer Patrick Carbone (North Wales, Pa.). With the bases loaded and no outs, Garrett Alibozek (Adams, Mass.) hit a sac fly to right to tie the game at three.

Wolfe led the offensive attack for Trinity, contributing two of the team's five hits. For the Trailblazers, a quartet of players had multi-hit games, highlighted by Slattery's 3-for-5 effort.

Seven different pitchers toed the rubber for the Bantams, including starter Jed Robinson (Winchester, Mass.). Robinson went five innings scattering six hits, while striking out three and allowing two earned runs. Tyler Benoit (North Adams, Mass.) got the start on the bump for MCLA. Benoit pitched seven strong innings and allowed two runs on three hits.