The Husson University baseball team got three RBI from Tanner Evans, and two each from Kevin Connolly and Hunter Curtis Saturday afternoon in winning their fifth consecutive North Atlantic Conference Championship over host SUNY Cobleskill 9-1 at Fighting Tiger Field in Cobleskill, New York.
SUNY Cobleskill needed to win the first game to force a second, but it was Husson who never trailed jumping on the board in the bottom of the first inning. After Keegan Cyr walked and Jackson Curtis reached on a fielders choice with one out, Cam Rendell drew a two-out walk. Hunter Curtis came through with an RBI single to make it 1-0 Eagles. Chris Champlin reached on an error by Evans that scored a Tigers run in the top of the third that tied the score at 1-1. Husson went on top for good in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly by Hunter Curtis, and Jackson Curtis made it 3-1 with an RBI single to centerfield in the fourth. Matt Holmes hit a solo homerun in the fifth, and then the Eagles really opened it up in the seventh when Evans nailed a two-run double and Connolly had a two-run single for an 8-1 advantage. Evans finished the scoring with an RBI single in the eighth inning. On the mound Alex Smith, Tanner Audyatis, and Ryan Robb combined to shut down the SUNY Cobleskill offense.
Smith (4-1) earned the pitching victory allowing just one run (none earned) on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 5.0 innings. Audyatis had 3.0 perfect innings with four strikeouts, and Robb pitched the ninth allowing just one walk. Evans and Hunter Curtis both had three hits, as Husson pounded out a total of 12 in the win. They outscored their NAC playoff opponents 33-4 to go 3-0 in the tournament. Stephen Tejada had two hits for SUNY Cobleskill, and Tanner Wood (1-1) was tagged with the loss on the hill giving up two runs on three hits with four walks and two strikeouts in 3.0 innings. The West Division Champion Fighting Tigers end their season with a record of 18-23.
Husson is now 23-10, and have won seven games in a row. The Eagles find out where, who, and when they play in the NCAA Division III Tournament during the selection show on Monday at 12 p.m. Husson has gone 2-6 in the NCAA Tournament in their previous three trips.
Recap by Chris Lessner
