MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Commodore Hendy Field, Buzzards Bay, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL:          MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 5, THOMAS 4

GAME #2 FINAL:          THOMAS 4, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 2

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  Sophomore Connor Kennedy’s (West Barnstable, Mass.) pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the seventh plated the winning run as Massachusetts Maritime rallied for a 5-4 victory over Thomas in the opening game of a non-league college baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field.  In the nightcap, sophomore Matt Rutherford (Saco, Maine) tossed a complete-game six-hitter and struck out five to give the Terriers a 4-2 win and a split of the twinbill.

The host Buccaneers (4-5) trailed 3-0 in the first inning of the opener before getting a run back in the fourth on a double play grounder, and sophomore Logan Sullo (Acushnet, Mass.) evened matters for Massachusetts Maritime in the fifth with a two-run triple to right field.  The visiting Terriers (1-1) regained a 4-3 in the top of the sixth when senior Joe Quinlan (Westbrook, Maine) drew a one-out walk and scored all the way from first on a looping single to right center off the bat of senior Anree Benitez (Orlando, Fla.), but the hosts rallied in their final at-bat of the lid-lifter with one out.  Senior Greg Downs (Marshfield, Mass.) tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI double, and after Sullo’s double advanced freshman pinch-runner Oliver Moore (Mint Hill, N.C.) to third, junior Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.) was intentionally walked to load the bases, setting the stage for Connor Kennedy’s game winning single to center.

Sullo rapped out three of the Buccaneers’ seven hits in the opening contest, while Downs collected two hits and fellow senior Everett Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass.) started the seventh inning rally with a single.  Senior Kyle Kennedy (Woodbury, Conn.) picked up the victory after striking out all four batters he faced in relief for Massachusetts Maritime, as junior Daniel Avery (Milford, Mass.) allowed three runs and struck out eight over the first five frames for the hosts.  Benitez collected three of Thomas’s eight hits in the first game setback, as the visitors jumped out to that 3-0 first inning lead on a double by freshman Zach Mathieu (Oakland, Maine) and an RBI single off the bat of sophomore Alex Curtis (Monmouth, Maine) that sandwiched a balk.  Mathieu and Curtis added two hits each for the Terriers, as senior Nik Beeson (Manchester, N.H.) suffered the setback on the mound in allowing both seventh inning runs.  Senior Isiah Fleming (Fairfield, Maine) went the first five innings for Thomas, as he allowed a pair of unearned runs and struck out four in his squad’s season debut.

Curtis’s two-run infield single in the top of the first of the nightcap staked the Terriers to an early 2-0 advantage, but Massachusetts Maritime sliced that margin in half on just three pitches in the bottom of the frame when Petruzzelli singled and scored on Walsh’s double.  Thomas answered back in the second on an RBI single off the bat of freshman Isaiah Arana (Orlando, Fla.) to regain a two-run lead, but the Buccaneers got that back in the third on a fielder’s choice groundout by freshman Paul Sances (Middleboro, Mass.).  The visitors closed out the scoring with an insurance run in the sixth after sophomore Michael De Los Santos (Robstown, Tex.) doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Aron Smestad (Corinna, Maine), and Rutherford took care of the rest on the mound for Thomas, as he overcame five walks to earn the win after Arana ended the game by throwing out a runner at the plate.

Benitez and senior Derek Kane (Natick, Mass.) also doubled as a part of a seven-hit attack in the nightcap triumph for the Terriers, while Walsh collected three of Massachusetts Maritime’s six second game hits, two of which went for doubles.  Sophomore Justin Nichols (Adams, Mass.) suffered the setback on the mound for the Buccaneers, as he allowed two hits and walked two in the opening inning of action to fall to 0-1 on the season.

Massachusetts Maritime takes on Emerson in a non-league outing on Sunday afternoon at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton, Mass. beginning at 2:00 p.m., while Thomas heads to Providence, R.I. on Sunday afternoon for a non-league doubleheader with Johnson & Wales that begins at Noon.

(Photo Credit:  Sean Walsh)