FORT PIERCE, Fla. (March 14, 2026) - The USMMA baseball team finished its Florida Spring Break trip on a strong note with a 12-1 victory over Lasell on Saturday morning at Lawnwood Sports Complex. The Mariners improve to 4-2 on the season, while the Lasers fall to 5-2 overall.
Game Link
How It Happened
The Blue and Gray struck early in the top of the first inning. Sophomore
Luke Kruer (Sellersburg, Ind.) lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to give them a 1-0 lead. Moments later, junior
Landon Troutt (Fairfield, Calif.) stole home to extend the advantage to 2-0.
Kings Point added to its lead in the third inning when Kruer delivered an RBI single to left field to make it 3-0. Merchant Marine continued to build their advantage in the fourth inning as freshman Davin Fulton (Houston, Texas) ripped an RBI single to push the lead to 4-0.
The Mariners broke the game open with a four-run sixth inning. Sophomore Braden Vazquez (Missouri City, Texas) ripped a two-run double to right-center. Junior Tommy Chiappetti (Buckeye, Ariz.) added an RBI single, and Kruer followed with a sacrifice fly to stretch the lead to 8-0.
Merchant Marine added another run in the seventh when Fulton picked up an RBI on a groundout to third base, then Lasell scored its lone run in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded walk to cut the deficit to 9-1.
KP added insurance runs late in the game. Freshman Ryan Melton (Newnan, Ga.) unloaded an RBI single to right field in the eighth inning, and Troutt capped the scoring in the ninth with a two-run double to center field to seal the 12-1 victory.
Deeper Look At Box Score
- The Mariners posted their fourth double-digit hit effort of the season with 14 hits, and four players registered multi-hit games. Vazquez, Chiappetti, Kruer, and Fulton each collected two hits. Juniors Christian Gamez (Kent Island, Md.) and Ricardo Olivares (Flower Mound, Texas), freshmen Gunnar Lyons (Concord, Mass.) and Thomas Byrne (Mount Pleasant, S.C.), and Melton all added one hit.
- Kruer, Vazquez, Troutt, and Byrne each recorded a double in the contest.
- Four Blue and Gray players recorded multi-RBI games, with Kruer leading the way with three while Vazquez, Fulton, and Troutt each drove in two runs.
- Vazquez led Kings Point with three runs scored in the game.
- The Merchant Marine pitching staff was lights out as freshman Baxter Hamilton (Sugar Land, Texas) earned the win after tossing six scoreless innings and retiring all 23 batters he faced. Freshman Sullivan Dunn (Mendham, N.J.) entered in the seventh inning and allowed one hit and one run, while classmate Tucker Bearden (Lakeland, Tenn.) delivered another strong outing with two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out four. Senior Caden Pierce (Marietta, Ga.) closed out the game in the ninth, retiring four of the five batters he faced while allowing one hit and striking out two.
Up Next
Merchant Marine returns home to Bartoszek Field on Tuesday, March 17, against arch-rival Coast Guard at 6:30 p.m. in Kings Point, N.Y.
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