Troy, N.Y. – Senior co-captain Jayme Dorr (Osterville, Mass.) singled in freshman Nick Baldelli (Cumberland, R.I.) for the game-winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning to lead the No. 3-seeded Trinity College Bantams to an 8-7 win over the the No. 4-seeded Ithaca College Bombers in the first game of the NCAA Division III New York Regional Championship Tournament at Joseph Bruno Stadium this evening.
Trinity, ranked No. 2 in New England and No. 15 in the nation, improves to 24-9 with its fourth straight win and will play No. 5-seeded Mount St. Mary in a winner’s bracket game tomorrow at 7 p.m. Mount St. Mary defeated No. 2 seed and tournament host Rensselaer, 7-3, in its opening game. Ithaca, ranked No. 3 in New York and No. 29 in the nation, will play top-seeded Cortland State, which downed No. 6-seeded Messiah, 6-1, in the first game of the day at Joe Bruno, tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. Messiah and Rensselaer will face off the opener tomorrow at noon.
Trinity got a two-run home run from sophomore Jeff Natale (Hamden, Conn.) with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to force the game into extra innings. With two outs in the ninth, Trinity sophomore pinch hitter Robert O’Leary (Easton, Mass.) singled off Ithaca closer Jonathan Beckerman (Woodbridge, Conn.) to extend the inning, and Natale came up and drilled a line drive home run to leftfield to keep the Bantams alive. Two innings later, Baldelli singled and was bunted over to second by O’Leary. Baldelli then advanced to third on a wild pitch before being singled home by Dorr.
Ithaca jumped out in front, 3-0, with single runs in the second, third and fourth innings. In the second, the Bombers scored one run on three Trinity errors. The next inning, junior Joe Cavano (Rome, N.Y.) led off with a single, stole second base and scored on a single by senior Kyle Wilkins (Scotia, N.Y.). Ithaca made it a three-run lead in the next inning when Craig Nels (Baldwinsville, N.Y.), a junior, singled and eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly.
After being held without a hit and committing four errors in the first 3.5 innings, the Bantams struck for three runs to tie the game in the fourth inning. With one out, Dorr doubled down the leftfield line and scored on a single to right field by fellow senior co-captain Kurt Piantek (Wallingford, Conn.) and a base hit by classmate Rob Dolliver (Norwich, Conn.) put runners on first and second base. One of two doubles by sophomore Aaron Goldstein (Edina, Minn.) to right centerfield with two outs scored both runners to knot the game.
The Bombers regained the lead on a pair of back-to-back hits in the seventh inning. Soiphomore Marty O’Boyle (Verona, N.J.) singled with one out and Wilkins doubled him home, chasing Trinity junior starter Kevin Tidmarsh (Meriden, Conn.), who entered the game with a 9-0 record. Against freshman reliever Kyle Cox (Hinsdale, Ill.), senior Nick Pyzikiewicz (West Seneca, N.Y.) knocked in Wilkins with an infield single and the Bombers made it 6-3 with a run by Pyzikiewicz on a wild pitch. Ithaca tacked on a single run on a bases loaded walk to Pyzikiewicz in the eighth inning but the Bantams got two runs back on a two-run home run to leftfield by Piantek in the bottom of the inning.
Trinity senior closer Craig Tredenick (Cornwall, Prince Edward Island) pitched 1.2 innings of relief to earn the win, while junior righty Kyle Sottung (Pulaski, N.Y.) pitched 7.2 innings, allowing five runs and a walk to go with ten strikeouts for Ithaca. Beckerman suffered the loss to fall to 3-1.
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
| Ithaca (24-11) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 |
| Trinity, Conn. (24-9) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 7 |
BATTERY
I- Kyle Sottung, Tom O’Connor (8), Jonathan Beckerman (9) and Craig Nels.
TC- Kevin Tidmarsh, Kyle Cox (7), Matt Krant (8), Mark Tremblay (8),
Craig Tredenick (10) and Andrew Fries.
WP: Tredenick (2-2)
LP: Beckerman (3-1)
HR: TC- Kurt Piantek (15), Jeff Natale (7)
Offensive
Highlights
I- Kyle
Wilkins – three hits, two RBI, double, Joe Cavano – three hits, Nick Pyzikiewicz
– two hits, Craig Nels – two hits
TC- Kurt Piantek – two hits, two runs, three RBI, home run, Jeff Natale –
two hits, two runs, two RBI, double, home run, Aaron Goldstein – two doubles,
two RBI, Jayme Dorr – two hits, double, Rob Dolliver – two hits.