Mitchell College Sports Roundup

The Mitchell College baseball team cranked out 33 hits, making nearly every one count in a 32-7 victory over Lesley University on Friday. The softball team dropped two games to the same school. The following information was provided by David Longolucco, sports information director at Mitchell College:

Baseball: Mitchell 32, Lesley 7

Every Mitchell starter had a hit, drove in a run and scored in the contest. Senior Jeff Perillo (Newington, Conn./Newington) went 4-for-6 and crushed three homers on the day to finish with five RBI. Junior John Apostolo (Queens, N.Y./St. Mary’s) drove in six runs and went 4-for-6 with two homers and a double. He extended his league-leading home run total to nine on the season.

Freshman Anthony Santiago (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) and senior Drew Rossi (Jessup, Pa./Valley View) each had five hits in the contest. Mitchell slugged a total of 17 extra-base hits in the game, with Rossi and junior Gus Maclao (Miami, Fla./Pace) finishing with three doubles apiece.

The win pushed the Mariners (18-6-1 overall, 13-2 NECC) to within one game of clinching the top spot in the NECC standings. The first-place team will earn the right to host next weekend’s NECC Championship.

Ryan Genua (Prospect, Conn./Woodland) led the Lynx (0-25 overall, 0-15 NECC) with three hits while Jeff Gonzalez (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) went 2-for-4 with a RBI. Starting pitcher Jeff Landry (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) took the loss and gave up 18 runs on 18 hits in 5.1 innings.

The Mariners, who batted as the visiting team, sent nine hitters to the plate in the first inning and took an early 5-0 lead. Perillo took the first pitch of the game over the center field fence to put Mitchell on the scoreboard. Apostolo also hit a two-run bomb in the frame. The Mariners then batted around again in the second inning and plated six more runs to go up 11-1.

Lesley trailed 14-3 after four innings but cut the deficit to seven with a four-run fifth. Joseph Marcinko (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East) and Nick Dolan (Strafford, N.H./Bishop Brady) each delivered two-out RBI singles to keep the Lynx in the mix.

Mitchell broke the game wide open in the top of the sixth, slamming four home runs and a total of 10 hits to score 11 runs in the inning. Apostolo and junior Felix Colarte (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) hit back-to-back homers in the frame, and senior John McGarry (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) and Perillo later followed with back-to-back shots of their own.

Perillo delivered his third home run of the game in the seventh inning, a three-run blast that was his sixth long ball of the season. Sophomore Osmer Collado (New York, N.Y./St. Agnes Boys) also jacked a two-run blast in the inning as Mitchell went up 32-7.

Sophomore Kevin Carbon (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) made his first career conference start and tossed 5.0 innings to earn the win. He gave up seven runs (five earned) on eight hits while striking out four and walking one. Freshman Nick Braunreuther (South Orange, N.J./Columbia) hurled 4.0 shutout innings to close the game and struck out five while allowing two hits.

Mitchell wraps up the regular season with a three-game series at Southern Vermont College this weekend, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 30 at noon. Lesley will next host Becker College for a Saturday doubleheader at noon.

Softball: Lesley 8, Mitchell 0; Lesley 4, Mitchell 2

The Mitchell College softball team dropped a pair of games to NECC leader Lesley University on Friday afternoon by final scores of 8-0 and 4-2.

The wins kept the Lynx (24-6 overall, 14-0 NECC) undefeated in conference play and clinched the top seed for next week’s NECC Softball Championship. Lesley has earned the right to host the tournament, which begins with quarterfinal games on Tuesday, May 3.

Mitchell (13-17 overall, 10-6 NECC), which has wrapped up regular season play, has qualified for the NECC Championship but must wait to learn its seeding and opponent. Lesley wraps up regular season play by hosting Daniel Webster College for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 30 at 2 p.m.

Game One – Lesley 8, Mitchell 0 (six innings)

Lesley pitcher Cassandra Knox (Sea Cliff, N.Y./North Shore) came within one out of tossing a no-hitter but had to settle for her sixth shutout of the season. She struck out seven and walked three in the contest to improve to 11-4 on the season.

The Lynx put up five runs in the first inning to take a quick lead. Lesley had five hits in the frame, but the Mariners compounded their own problems by committing a pair of errors. Alyson Durben (Stow, Mass./Nashoba Regional) plated a pair of runs with a double to right-center and Nicole Mercurio (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield) followed with a RBI single to fuel the rally. Durben finished with three hits—all doubles—in the contest.

Lesley tacked on a run in the fourth when Emily Mangiaratti (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) led off with a double and scored on a ground out by Gabrielle Brixey (Coalinga, Calif./West Hills CC). The Lynx plated another pair of runs in the sixth to go up 8-0, with both runs scoring on a single by Ashley Cunningham (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood).

Mitchell sophomore Tiffany Person (Waterbury, Conn./Crosby) broke up the no-hitter in the bottom of the sixth by beating out a grounder to shortstop. The hit loaded the bases for the Mariners, but Knox escaped without allowing a run by getting a ground ball to end the game.

Junior Marissa Thomas (New London, Conn./Saint Bernard) took the loss for the Mariners, allowing eight runs (six earned) on 11 hits. She dropped to 10-7 on the season.

Game Two – Lesley 4, Mitchell 2

Lesley pitcher Jennifer Dorval (Franklin, N.H./Franklin) cruised through six innings before running into trouble in the seventh. Mitchell trailed 4-1 heading into the bottom of the frame but loaded the bases and brought a run home before the Lynx handed the ball back to Knox. She then ended the threat by retiring the next two Mariners and earned her first save of the season.

The Lynx took a 2-0 lead in the third inning as Dorval helped her own cause with a two-run single. Mitchell answered back with a run of its own in the bottom of the frame on a RBI double by freshman Tricia Tomaselli (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) that scored junior Shannen Pelletier (Coventry, R.I./Coventry).

Lesley extended the lead to 4-1 with a pair of runs in the fifth. Dorval doubled in a run and Cunningham followed with a single to center to bring her around for the second. Mitchell’s run in the seventh came on a RBI single to right by junior Nikki Hoxie (Winsted, Conn./Gilbert School).

Dorval, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI at the plate, improved to 12-2 inside the circle. She allowed two runs on five hits and struck out 14 in 6.1 innings of work. Tomaselli (3-10 overall) took the loss for the Mariners, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out four and walking six.