The Husson Eagles had their season come to an end on Friday morning, dropping an 8-5 decision to Johnson & Wales in what was an elimination game of the NCAA Division III Baseball Regional at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Husson took an early lead. David Leblanc reached on a fielders choice that scored Akira Warren, and Chris Ewanik hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 Eagles in the third inning. They increased that to 3-0 on a Nick Swift RBI single in the top of the fourth. The Wildcats from Johnson & Wales got on the board in the bottom half on a balk, and then on a sacrifice fly from Joe Maracic to cut it to 3-2. An error on a ball hit by Colby Greenhalgh and another balk scored two for Johnson & Wales in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Wildcats their first lead at 4-3. Swift tied it back up for Husson with a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth, but the Wildcats took over the lead for good in the bottom half. An RBI single by Maracic, a two-run homer by Griffin Snyder, and a wild pitch made it 8-4. The Eagles ended the scoring on the day on a fielders choice by Ethan Stoddard that scored Kobe Rogerson in the seventh.
Rogerson had three hits and Stoddard had two to lead Husson in the loss, with Swift knocking in a pair of runs. Cam Graham (5-2) suffered the pitching defeat allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 5.0 innings. Kevin Duffy had two hits for Johnson & Wales (14-15), with Maracic and Synder adding two RBI each. Steve Rocchio (3-2) got the pitching win allowing five runs on 10 hits in 6.1 innings. Dane DellaValle picked up his second save of the season. The Eagles end the season with a final record of 22-9, making the regional tournament for the first time in 10 years.
BOX SCORE
HUS (22-9) 0 0 2 1 0 1 1 0 0- 5 10 2
J&W (14-15) 0 0 0 2 2 4 0 0 0- 8 8 1
Winning pitcher- Steve Rocchio (3-2)
Losing pitcher- Cam Graham (5-2)
Save- Dane DellaValle (2)
Left on base- Husson 8, Johnson & Wales 5
