Sanchez's Pinch Homer Sparks Late Six Run Rally As Baseball Powers Past Clark, 7-4
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mass. Maritime | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 4 |
|
Clark (Mass.) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL
Friday, March 28, 2014
Granger Field, Worcester, Mass.
FINAL: MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 7, CLARK 4
WORCESTER, Mass. -- Senior Keith Sanchez’s (Monroe Township, N.J.) pinch-hit three-run homer in the top of the eighth inning sparked a six-run late inning rally that lifted Massachusetts Maritime to a 7-4 non-league college baseball victory over Clark Friday afternoon at rainy Granger Field.
Sophomore Everett Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass.) gave the visiting Buccaneers (6-4) a 1-0 fourth inning lead when he doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman Terrence Mudie (Barnstable, Mass.), but the host Cougars (4-11) took advantage of three hits and a pair of errors to plate all four of their runs in the bottom of the fifth, as junior Daniel Lima’s (Manchester, Conn.) RBI single evened matters before Clark took a 3-1 cushion on a two-run single by sophomore Michael Eglow (Delmar, N.Y.), who then scored on a throwing error. That score held up until the eighth when consecutive singles by Walsh, senior Bob Lee (Braintree, Mass.) and junior Greg Downs (Marshfield, Mass.) loaded the bases for Massachusetts Maritime, which pulled to within 4-2 on a sacrifice fly by senior Matt Pelletier (Bradford, Mass.) and set up Sanchez’s decisive blow, as he belted a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall to give the visitors the lead for good. The Buccaneers added a pair of ninth inning insurance runs to account for the final score, as Lee was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Walsh added a fielder’s choice groundout that enabled Massachusetts Maritime to claim its first four-game winning streak in just over three seasons.
Walsh and junior Bobby Rosano (North Reading, Mass.) each rapped out three hits as a part of a 13-hit attack on the day for the Buccaneers, who also received a pair of hits from Lee. Junior Zac Cooney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) continued his early season brilliance on the mound for the visitors, as he improved to 4-0 on the spring by escaping the fifth inning jam and allowing just one hit and striking out five over the final five frames. Cooney has not allowed an earned run in 17 1/3 innings of work this season, recording 13 strikeouts over that span and holding opponents to a .133 batting average. Lima collected three of Clark’s seven hits in the setback, as freshman Casey Marvell (Niskayuna, N.Y.), the fifth of six Cougar pitchers, suffered the loss on the mound, as he surrendered Sanchez’s go-ahead homer.
Massachusetts Maritime’s scheduled Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader with Westfield State for tomorrow afternoon has already been postponed and re-scheduled for Sunday, April 6th. The Buccaneers now return to action on Wednesday afternoon by heading to New London, Conn. to take on Coast Guard in a non-league outing that begins at 3:30 p.m. Clark hosts MIT in a New England Women’s & Men’s Athletic Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Granger Field beginning at Noon.