BRONX, N.Y. (April 23, 2022) – The USMMA baseball team split its Skyline Conference doubleheader with the College of Mount Saint Vincent on Saturday afternoon. CMSV took Game 1 by a score of 2-0, while Game 2 featured a 6-5 Merchant Marine victory. The split of the twin-bill gave both the Mariners and Dolphins 19-14 overall records. Merchant Marine left the Bronx with a 10-4 in-conference mark, while Mount Saint Vincent ended the day 7-7 in Skyline play.
 
Game Links

• Game 1 Box Score
• Game 2 Box Score 

Game 1 was a pitchers' duel between sophomore Tyler Reistetter (Dickinson, Texas) and Humberto Vela. Reistetter made his fifth-straight start in a Game 1 of a conference doubleheader having thrown seven-inning complete games in each of his last three such starts. The Mariners' left-hander matched zeroes with the Dolphins' senior for the first three innings.
 
In a game that saw only four hits on each side, the lone runs of Game 1 came in on a fourth-inning two-run home run by Mount Saint Vincent's Mike Grisanti. Vela made the two runs stand up and tossed a seven-inning complete game shutout to outduel Reistetter, who threw the rare six-inning complete game. With the win, the Dolphins' right-hander improved to 3-1 on the season, while Reistetter went fell to 4-3 with the tough-luck loss.
 
Game 2 saw the second- and third-ranked offenses in the Skyline Conference go to work. The Dolphins' second-ranked offense and the Mariners' third-ranked offense squared off in a seesaw battle. After Mount Saint Vincent went up 3-0 early against sophomore starter Kole Register, (Virginia Beach, Va.), USMMA answered back quickly.
 
A fourth-inning RBI-single from freshman Garrett Clapsaddle (Murphy, N.C.) put Merchant Marine within "a-bloop-and-a-blast" down 3-1. USMMA's backstop has been red-hot at the plate by recording at least one hit in seven of his last nine game. Clapsaddle is hitting .321 over the span and has raised his season batting average to .265.
 
Down by two in the top of the fifth, a walk to junior Joey Zanetti (Richmond Va.) allowed senior Noah Herdman (Naperville, Ill.) to come to the plate as the tying run. Herdman launched his sixth dinger of the season to tie the ballgame at 3-3. This would not be the last time the Mariners' third baseman would play long ball on the afternoon.
 
Still knotted at three in the sixth, Zanetti went the other way with a two-out base hit to plate Clapsaddle with the go-ahead run. Register, who settled in after the first three innings, put up his third straight zero in the sixth to keep Merchant Marine in front 4-3.
 
Herdman kept the momentum going by adding home run number two of Game 2 in the top of the seventh to extend the Mariners' lead to two. With two homers and three RBI, The Mariners' third baseman took sole possession of the conference home run lead with seven and reclaimed his Skyline Conference RBI-lead with ribeye steaks numbers 39, 40, and 41.
 
The Dolphins responded quickly in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at five. The pivotal in-conference contest remained knotted at 5-5 until the top of the ninth.
 
Mount Saint Vincent opened the door for USMMA by allowing Zanetti to reach on an error. A passed ball and an advancing ground ball from Reistetter moved Zanetti to third with two away. In his largest at-bat of the season, junior Jared Chambers (Houston, Texas) came through with a two-out RBI opposite field single to plate Zanetti and put Merchant Marine up 6-5.
 
In line for the win after tossing a scoreless bottom of the eighth, senior Grant Corb (Katy, Texas) retired Grisanti leading off the ninth and handed the ball to sophomore Tommy Payton (Palm Harbor, Fla.) for the final two outs.
 
Payton recorded two flyball outs to earn his second save of the season and secure the split for USMMA. Corb did in fact earn the win in relief to improve to 2-3 on the season. The victory restored the Mariners' three-game lead over the Dolphins in the conference standings.
 
A quick turnaround awaits the Mariners tomorrow afternoon, Sunday, April 24, with another Skyline Conference doubleheader. USMMA will host the Mount Saint Mary College Knights at Bartoszek Field with first pitch scheduled for high noon. Live stats and a live video feed of the doubleheader will be available with links on the USMMA Baseball Schedule Page.
 
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