Mitchell College Sports Roundup

Mitchell College lost three baseball and softball games on Sunday, but picked up a men's tennis win over Lesley University. The following information was provided by David Longolucco, sports information director at Mitchell College, and Ryan McCarthy, sports information director at Lesley University.

Men's Tennis: Mitchell 6, Lesley 3

Mitchell College took four of six singles points and two doubles points in its 6-3 victory over Lesley University in New England Collegiate Conference men's tennis play on Sunday at the Nicholas Athletic Center.

Mariners top singles player Rajan Bawa (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) earned a 6-1, 6-0 win over Lesley's Nick Mattox and teamed with Andrew Small (Westerly, RI/Westerly) for a 9-7 first doubles win. Mitchell's Rocco Devona (Waterford, CT/Waterford) knocked off Lesley's Paolo DiPietrantonio 6-1, 6-0 in second singles and partnered with Alexander Fusco (Saugus, MA/Saugus) for an 8-3 second doubles victory.

Sophomore Mike Kaufman (Boca Raton, FL/American) enjoyed an impressive Lynx debut, beating Timothy Atkinson 6-0, 6-1 in sixth singles and teamed with Jimmy Paulsen (Monroe, CT/Masuk) for an 8-6 third doubles win. Senior Christian Domingo (Granada Hills, CA/Delphi) earned Lesley's third point, beating Randy Coons 6-0, 6-2 in fourth singles.

The Lynx return to the court at Becker on Tuesday, when Mitchell travels to Regis.

Baseball: Becker 7, Mitchell 4

The Mitchell College baseball team dropped the final game of its weekend series against Becker College by a 7-4 final on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Field.

Becker (10-9 overall, 6-3 NECC) erased an early 2-0 deficit and took the lead behind a four-run fifth inning. Starting pitcher Keon Jenkins (Nashua, N.H./Nashua) gave the Hawks a strong outing, working into the sixth inning while striking out five to improve to 3-1 on the season.

Becker had the game’s first chance to score but came up empty in the second inning. Shaun Millerick (Hampton, N.H./Berwick Academy) delivered a pinch-hit single to left with a runner on second base, but senior Tommy Derosier (Brooklyn, Conn./Killingly) threw a strike to the plate to cut down the runner trying to score. Mitchell (5-10 overall, 4-2 NECC) then got on the board in the third inning on a two-run double by freshman Nick Carlson (Old Lyme, Conn./Lyme-Old Lyme).

The Hawks got a run back in the fourth on an RBI single by Tom Natoli (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) before pushing across four runs in the fifth to pull in front. Mike Smith (Warner, N.H./Kearsarge) provided the big hit in the rally, a bases-loaded single to right field that scored three runs with the help of a Mitchell fielding error.

Mitchell got a run back in the sixth as Jenkins began to tire. The Mariners drew four straight two-out walks to plate the run before Jenkins was pulled from the game. Reliever Trenton Gibson (Henderson, Nev./Coronado) needed only three pitches to record the final out and escaped the jam with the 5-3 lead.

Becker increased the margin to 7-3 in the seventh on a two-run homer by Todd Tompkins (West Haven, Conn./West Haven), his team-leading second of the season. The lead was more than enough for Gibson, who allowed only one run on three hits over the final 3.1 innings to record the save.

Jenkins allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and struck out and walked five in 5.2 innings of work. Mitchell starter Mike Grofsick (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne) threw 4.1 innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits while striking out one.

Mitchell will next host Daniel Webster College for a nine-inning affair on Friday at 3 p.m. Becker returns to action at home for a single game against Salve Regina University on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Softball: Lesley 8, Mitchell 0; Lesley 10, Mitchell 8

Lesley University got a one-hitter from Game 1 starter Jennifer Dorval in an 8-0 rout and pounded out 16 hits in a 10-4 win in Game 2 in the Lynx home-opening doubleheader sweep of Mitchell College in New England Collegiate Conference softball play Sunday afternoon at Buckingham Field.

Dorval (Franklin, NH/Franklin) hurled 4 and 1/3 innings of no-hit ball, allowing a only a one-out single in the fifth, walking three and striking out six in the five-inning shutout. At the plate, the reigning NECC Player of the Year went 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored, driving in two.  

The Lynx (7-6, 2-0 NECC) scored a run in the first and another in the second after putting leadoff runners on base both innings off Mitchell (3-11, 0-2) starter Marissa Thomas. Emily Mangiaratti (Amherst, MA/Anherst) walked, was sacrificed to second, stole third and scored on a Sarah Apgar (Andover, NJ/Lenape) sac fly to left in the first. Allison Fountain (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire) reached on a dropped fly ball an inning later, scoring on a Jenna Fralick (Woburn, MA/Woburn) RBI single.

Dorval doubled in the third and was driven home on a Gabrielle Brixey (Coalinga, CA/West Hills CC) RBI single to center for another run before the Lynx broke through for five in the fourth.  Apgar doubled home a run and scored on a Dorval two-run single, and Fountain plated both Dorval and Brixey on a two-run double to left-center that upped the lead to 8-0.

Brixey went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, and Apgar and Fountain each drove in two.

Dylan Riccardi (Elmont, NY/Sewanhaka) picked up the lone hit for the Mariners, pushing a single through the right side to break up Dorval's no-hit bid in the fifth. Thomas (New London, CT/Saint Bernard) allowed eight runs, seven earned, and struck out two in the loss.

Lesley plated two in the first inning of Game 2 with a Brixey single that scored Apgar from third and, after a Nikki Hoxie error in center, Dorval from first base to give the Lynx a 2-0 lead.

Mitchell got one back in the third when Tiffany Person (Waterbury, CT/Crosby) led off with a triple to center, scoring a batter later on a Brittany Zaccaria (White Plains, NY/Maria Regina) groundout.

The Lynx responded with three in the third and three more in the fourth. Another Apgar sac fly to left, a Dorval RBI triple and a Brixey run-scoring groundout upped the lead to 5-1, and Lesley went ahead 8-1 on a two-run single from Mangiaratti, who came home on a Molly Sarson (Sanford, MA/Sanford) suicide squeeze.

The Mariners came back with three runs on two hits with the help of two Lynx errors in the fifth, and Lesley answered with Fountain and Nicole Mercurio doubling and scoring to lead off the bottom half of the inning, increasing the lead to 10-4, which would be the final.

Lesley starter Cassandra Knox (Sea Cliff, NY/North Shore) evened her record at 3-3 on the season, going five innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out three.

For Mitchell, Zaccaria went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, and Person scored twice from atop the Mariners lineup.

Sarson and Apgar each went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI for the Lynx, and Mangiaratti went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.

Lesley returns to play on Wednesday at Wellesley, and Mitchell is in action again on Saturday at Elms.