Colby College Baseball team sweeps Plymouth State in tight games

WATERVILLE, Maine — The Colby College baseball team fought back for a 5-3 win in the opening game and then held on to a big lead in a 7-6 victory in the nightcap in non-conference play against Plymouth State University on Sunday at Coombs Field.

The Mules (9-15 overall) scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning after the Panthers had went ahead with a lone run in the top of the sixth of the opener.

 

Zach Ellenthal ripped a two-run triple to right field to put the Mules up for good at 4-3. Tommy Forese led off with a walk and Soren Hanson followed with another walk. Both base runners moved up a base on a wild pitch and then scored on Ellenthal’s triple. After walk to Andrew Della Volpe, Matt Mitchell singled to plate Ellenthal with the final run.

 

The Panthers led 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 in the first game. Jake Broom started the first inning with a single, moved to second on a single by Nate Frederick, and then was forced out at third. After a walk to Jerek Krajewski loaded the bases, James Riley-Garnett walked to force in the run.

 

The Mules tied the game with a lone run in the second. Matt Garcia singled to lead off the inning and stole second base with one out. Garcia moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Della Volpe’s single.

 

The Panthers went ahead for a second time when Frederick had a one-out walk and moved to second on a balk. Frederick took third on a single by Dave Hall and then scored on sacrifice fly by Krajewski.

 

Colby tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third. Tyler Starks singled to right field to lead off the inning, moved to second when Ryan Quinn walked, and took third on a fly to right field by Tommy Forese. Hanson singled to left field to bring in Starks.

 

Plymouth State went up 3-2 on another bases loaded walk. Eric Leitch singled to start the inning and took third when Luke Mancini doubled. Josh Goulet was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Justin Walsh followed with an RBI walk.

Dan Csaplar pitched the final 2.2 innings to pick up the Colby win in the first game. Bobby Forese started and pitched into the fifth inning.

In the nightcap, Colby led 7-0 after four innings, but the Panthers scratched back with two runs in the fifth inning and four in the sixth. Plymouth State had three doubles and two triples in the game.

Chris Sonberg had a bases clearing double to highlight a five-run first inning. The double to center scored Csaplar, John Baron, and Blake Egan. Ellenthal had an RBI single earlier in the inning to bring in Matt Mitchell. Baron drove in the other run when he got on by fielder’s choice to score Tommy Forese.

Colby added another run in the third inning after Csaplar led off with a double. Ellenthal singled to push Csaplar to third and Baron followed with a sacrifice fly to score the run.

Benjamin Crocker led off with the fourth inning with a single and took second when Mitchell grounded out. Matt Treveloni singled to right field to score Crocker with Colby’s final run.

Leitch started the Plymouth State fifth with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Goulet’s triple to right field. Chris Mansour hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Goulet with the second run.

The Panthers put the pressure on with four runs in the sixth inning. Dave Hall had a one-out double and moved to third on a single by Krajewski. Riley-Garnett drove in the third run of the game with a single before Leitch followed with a two-run triple to cut the margin to 7-5. Leitch scored the final run of the game on a wild pitch.

Will Cohen earned his first collegiate victory by pitching into the sixth inning for the Mules. Dan Schoenfeld worked the seventh inning to get the save.

Colby 5, Plymouth State 3 (1st game)

PSU     101#001#0—3#7#1

Colby    011#003#x—5#7#0

Ryan Parro (L), Brady Larson (6), Sean Engel (6) and Justin Walsh. Bobby Forese, Dan Csaplar (5, W) and Andrew Della Volpe. 2B: Luke Mancini (PS). 3B: Zach Ellenthal (C).

Colby 7, Plymouth State 6 (2nd game)

PSU     000#024#0—6#9#0

Colby   501#100#x—7#6#1

Connor Macrae (L), Dallas DeFrancesco (1), Alex Libby (4), Nolan Flynn (5) and Chris Mansour. Will Cohen (W), Jackson Ward (6), Griffin Clark (6), Matt Garcia (6), Dan Schoenfeld (7, S) and Blake Egan. 2B: Dave Hall (PS), Luke Mancini (PS), James Riley-Garnett (PS), Chris Sonberg (C), Dan Csaplar (C). 3B: Josh Goulet (PS), Eric Leitch (PS).