Ethan Stoddard hit a go ahead RBI single in the sixth inning on Tuesday, lifting the Husson Eagles to an 11-7 win over the Thomas College Terriers in the North Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament at Fightin Tiger Field in Cobleskill, New York. The win gives Husson the 2022 NAC Championship, as they will carry a 15 game win streak into the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
Thomas (17-26) broke on top for an early lead. DJ Cagnina had an RBI single in the top of the first inning, and then in the second Austin Stebbins had a fielders choice RBI and Kyle Gleason an RBI single to make it 3-0. Husson would score six times in the bottom of the second and never trailed again. Kobe Rogerson led off with a solo homerun, Nick Swift and Tyler Parke had RBI singles, and with two outs Jackson Curtis cleared the bases with a three-run double. Josh Scott made it 7-3 with a sacrifice RBI fly in the fourth, before the Terriers rallied back to tie it in the sixth inning scoring four times. Gleason drew a bases loaded walk, Tony Meza hit a two-run single, and Cagnina made it 7-7 when he had a fielders choice RBI. Scott and Curtis started off the bottom half of the sixth for the Eagles with back to back walks. After a Rogerson attempted sacrifice bunt with Scott being thrown at third base, Stoddard had the eventual game winner with a groundball RBI single to left field. Curtis tacked onto the lead with a two-run double in the seventh, and Austin Snow ended the scoring on the day with an RBI groundout in the eighth.
Jake Gregoire (2-1) won in relief of starter Alex Smith, who only went 1.2 innings. Gregoire allowed one runs on two hits in 1.2 innings out of the bullpen, while Ryan Robb went the final 2.0 innings to pick up his fourth save. Snow, Curtis, Parke, and Tanner Evans had two hits each. Curtis drove in five runs. Jake Lacroix (1-2) took the loss in relief of Meza for Thomas College. Meza allowed six runs in just 2.0 innings. Cagnina, Gleason, and Brad Smith had two hits each for the Terriers with Cagnina, Gleason, and Meza also driving in two runs each. Husson (24-15) will now await word on a date, opponent, location, and time for their trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The selection show is slated for 12 p.m. next Monday. It is the second straight trip to the regionals for the Eagles, who lost both games last season in Hartford, Connecticut to SUNY-Oswego and Johnson & Wales.
