Baseball Hold On to Earn Split of DH with Bard College

DAVENPORT, Fla. – The MCLA Baseball team continued their annual spring break road trip at the RussMatt Invitational, playing a pair of games against Bard College at the Northeast Regional Park. An offensive explosion in the first game saw the Raptors walk away with a 14-1 win, before the Trailblazers held on for a 13-11 win in the night cap.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Saturday, March 15, 2025
• Game #1: Bard 14, MCLA 1
• Game #2: MCLA 13, Bard 11
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 2-4 (MASCAC 0-0) | Bard College Raptors 2-5 (Liberty League 0-0)
• Series History: MCLA leads the all-time series 3-1, including a sweep last season at the RussMatt Invitational by scores of 6-2 and 11-5 on March 17^th, in the first-ever meeting of the teams.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Game #1
  • Bard scored first in the top of the first inning on an RBI two-out single by James Karras scored Sam Dumper.
  • MCLA leveled the score in the bottom of the same frame. Freshman outfielder Benjamin Jacob (Pittsfield, MA) led off by working a walk and then stole second. Jacob then moved to third on a single by freshman shortstop Roshan Warriar (Pittsfield, MA) before scoring on an RBI groundout by senior pitcher Joshua Bissaillon (East Greenbush, NY).
  • The Raptors added another run in the top of the third on a single by Andrew Plenn, a double by Karras, and an RBI groundout by Gavin Gonzalez.
  • Things would get off the rails for the Trailblazers in the late innings because Bard put up three in the sixth and then nine in the seventh to salt the game away.
  • The Raptors' Elise Berger threw five shutout innings of relief without allowing a hit and striking out four to pick up his first win, moving to 1-0.
• Game #2
  • The second game was a rock'em - sock'em back and forth with both teams taking big swings at the other. MCLA got on the board first, plating four runs in the top of the second inning on three singles, three walks, and a hit batter.
  • Bard responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning on four hits, and an RBI walk.
  • An RBI single by Warriar in the top of the fourth scored Jacob to tie the game at five, before a single in the top of the fifth by senior first baseman Matthew Belfance (Saugerties, NY) scored sophomore outfielder Joe Sardo (Great Neck, NY) put them in front, 6-5.
  • The Raptors retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth scoring two and then relinquished the lead again when MCLA plated a pair of their own behind an RBI hit by pitch to senior catcher Josh Bologh (Waterbury, CT) and an RBI groundout by Sardo.
  • The Trailblazers scored five much needed insurance runs in the top of the seventh, expanding their lead to 13-7. A two-run double by Warriar scored sophomore pinch hitter TJ Platt (Amsterdam, NY) and a triple by Sardo scored Bologh for the big hits in the inning.
  • An RBI single by Jimmy Famularo and a base clearing three-run double by Spencer Azzara pulled the Raptors within 13-11, before senior pitcher Brady Hamel (Port St. Lucie, FL) closed the door with the game tying runs on base to record his first career save.
  • Senior pitcher Nate Morse (Holyoke, MA) struck out five in one and two third innings to earn the win, moving to 2-1 on the year.

UP NEXT:

On Wednesday, MCLA will be back in action at the RussMatt Invitational a doubleheader against University of Maine-Farmington at the Northeast Regional Park in Davenport, FL. The first game is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. start.

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