PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (May 13, 2022) – The #4-seed U.S. Merchant Marine Academy baseball team nearly let a win slip away on Friday, but came back after being down two in the top of the ninth to stun #1-seed St. Joseph's-L.I., 12-10, at the Golden Eagles' Alfano Field on the first day of the four-team, double-elimination portion of the Skyline Championship.
With the win, the Mariners (25-17) move on in the winners' bracket and will face the winner of today's second game between #2-seed Farmingdale State and #3-seed Mount St. Vincent
currently underway. That winners' bracket game will be played tomorrow, Saturday, May 14, at 2 p.m. right back out at host St. Joe's-L.I. The Golden Eagles fall to 19-12 in defeat and will play in an elimination game later Friday evening.
Game Links
The Mariners held an 8-2 lead in the middle innings of the game thanks in large part to a five-run third inning. When the Golden Eagles came up to bat down 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh, the hosts connected for five runs to tie the game up. SJU added two more in the bottom of the eighth to pull within three outs of the victory.
St. Joe's was unable to get one out before falling behind again in the top of the ninth, however, as they walked senior
Brayden O'Connell (Beaver Dams, N.Y.) to start the inning and then gave up a single to classmate
Garrett Aichele (Bainbridge Island, Wash.). Back at the top of the order, and junior
Joey Zanetti (Richmond, Va.) hit a high fly ball to left field that carried over the fence for his second dinger of the season to put the Mariners ahead 11-10.
The Mariners added an insurance run a few batters later when junior
Jared Chambers (Houston, Texas) hit a triple to left that plated senior
Noah Herdman (Naperville, Ill.). Freshman
Jacob Syversen (Land O' Lakes, Fla.) earned the save with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth, striking out the last batter to seal the win.
Sophomore starter
Kole Register (Virginia Beach, Va.) was cruising through six innings with a five-run lead before he ran into trouble in the seventh. He had four strikeouts on the day. Sophomore
Tommy Payton (Palm Harbor, Fla.) wound up earning the victory after coming in in the seventh and finishing with 1.1 IP.
The Golden Eagles opened the scoring plating a run on an error in the bottom of the opening frame, but Merchant Marine answered right back the next half-inning when O'Connell scored on an error after a failed pickoff attempt.
The Mariners took the lead in the third when freshman
Travis Leatherwood (Catonsville, Md.) came up with the bases loaded and then proceeded to empty them with a three-RBI double down the left field line. RBI singles by freshman
Derek Vanasse (Camarillo, Calif.) and Zanetti closed out the scoring in the five-run inning, putting USMMA ahead 6-1.
SJU got one back in the bottom of the third, but the Mariners hung two more runs in the top of the fourth on an RBI-single by freshman
Garrett Clapsaddle (Murphy, N.C.) and later a run-scoring balk that plated Leatherwood and it was 8-2 Merchant Marine.
Then the wheels fell off temporarily for the Mariners, as they allowed the eight runs over the sixth, seventh and eighth to allow the hosts to take the lead. But they righted the ship with their backs against the wall in the top of the ninth to earn the gutsy victory.
Tomorrow's winners' bracket game will begin at 2 p.m. back at Alfano Field in Patchogue, N.Y. Live stats and live video feeds for all games this weekend are available with links on
the USMMA Baseball Schedule Page.
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