Williamstown, Mass. - Junior Jeremiah Bayer (Greenfield,
Mass.) pitched a complete game and junior Matt
Sullivan (North Reading, Mass.) led the offensive attack
as the defending National Champion Trinity College Bantams defeated
the Williams College Ephs 8-3 in New England Small College Athletic
Conference (NESCAC) baseball championship tournament action this
morning at Bobby Coombs Field.
Trinity, ranked No. 6 in the nation, improves to 28-5 and Bayer
improves to 10-0 on the year, while the Ephs fall to 25-11 with the
loss.
Trinity wasted no time taking a lead in the game, senior co-captain
Sean Killeen (Greenfield, Mass.) roping a 2-out
double in the first, and Kent Graham (Longmeadow,
Mass.) bringing him around to score with a single. The
Bantams would add to that lead in the second with a towering 3-run
homerun from Sullivan, just fair of the left-field foul pole.
Trinity loaded the bases in the third before knocking Williams
starter, junior Paul Burgdorf (Latham, N.Y.) out
of the game, and scored when freshman Alex LiDonni
(Norwood, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to give the Bantams a
5-1 lead. Williams cut the lead to 5-3 in the top of the sixth
after junior Al Matthews (North Hampton, N.H.)
scored on a passed ball, and senior Zach Stone (Darien,
Conn.) picked up an RBI single.
The Bantams quickly killed the Ephs momentum when sophomore
Robert Martin (Lowell, Mass.) led off the sixth
with a double and junior Jack Abbott (Longmeadow,
Mass.) followed up with an RBI single. In the seventh,
senior co-captain Ryan Piacentini (Portland, Me.)
delivered a deep homerun over left field fence to put the Bantams
up 7-3. Trinity added another run in the eighth after Sullivan and
Killeen back-to-back doubles.
Killeen, Sullivan, junior James Wood (Windham,
N.H.), and freshman Kevin Mortimer (Spencer,
Mass.) collected two hits apiece for the Bantams, while
freshman Cameron Susk (Woodside, Calif.) and
senior Taylor Mikell (Williston, Vt.) had two hits
apiece for the Ephs. Martin delivered several standout defensive
plays at short stop for the Bantams.
Bayer spread out five hits and five walks throughout the game, but
allowed no earned runs, as Williams took advantage of four Trinity
errors to get on the board. freshman Dan Grossman
(Indianapolis, In.) pitched well in relief for Williams,
going 5.2 innings, allowing three runs and striking out four.
The win puts Trinity in the NESCAC Championship finals tomorrow at
10 a.m. The Bantams will play the winner of this afternoon's 2:30
match. Trinity has two shots at clinching the NESCAC Championship
tomorrow, as the tournament is a double elimination format.
Box Score
