Husson DH Luke Covey bats in game two of the NAC-CUNYAC championship series against Baruch University at the Winkin Complex on Sunday, May 12, 2019. Photo by Chris Lessner (click to enlarge)
BANGOR, Maine- After Saturdays 5-3 game one loss, the Husson Eagles faced a must win game two on Sunday morning in their NAC-CUNYAC best of three championship series against Baruch University. The Eagles got that win, but fell short in their ultimate goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament when Baruch took game three at Alfond Diamond at Dr. John Winkin Sports Complex to end Hussons season.
Playing as the visitors in game two, Husson got a strong pitching start from freshman Brandon Brunell and scored five runs in the top of the fourth to break a scoreless tie to take an 8-2 win and force a winner take all third game.
Luke Covey was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 1-0. Nolan Brown then got an infield single to score another to double the lead to a pair. Nick Guerrette singled in another, scoring Alex Chapman but Covey was thrown out at home. Connor McGuire then hit an RBI single, and Guerrette scored on a wild pitch making it 5-0. David Leblanc tripled in Kobe Rogerson in the seventh, before Chapman hit a sacrifice fly, and Ethan Stoddard scored from third base when Baruch catcher Gerardo Roque threw to second base to cut down Covey stealing to put the Eagles well in control 8-0.
Nicholas Valeriano singled in a pair in the Bearcats last at bat in the bottom of the seventh to make up for the final difference. Roque had two hits to lead Baruch, and Hasan Deljanin (2-4) took the loss on the mound allowing five runs (two earned) on four hits in 3.2 innings. Leblanc and Stoddard had two hits a piece for the Eagles, and Brunell (5-0) picked up the win allowing no runs, three hits, with two walks, and two strikeouts in 6.0 innings.
In the deciding game three, the Bearcats from Baruch scored three in the second inning to gain a lead, then scored a pair in the sixth and seventh to take a 7-3 win and advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
In the big three run second inning against Husson starter Ryan Allender, Connor McCabe began things with a triple to right center field. Deljanin then singled in McCabe. Deljanin stole second and third base, and then scored when Jacob Auerbach doubled. After a groundout, JP Ramirez knocked in Auerbach with an RBI single to make it 3-0. The rally would end the day for Allender after just 1.2 innings.
Baruch starter Ryan Warner limited the damage, allowing just a run on four Husson hits over his 5.0 innings. The Bearcats would tack on to the lead in the sixth, after the Eagles had cut it to 3-1 on a triple by Nolan Brown and an RBI groundout by Guerrette to score Brown in the bottom of the fifth. Emmanuel Tavaras came up with what turned out to be the winning hit, with a two out two run double in that top of the sixth to extend the lead to 5-1. Jorge Mercado and Deljanin added RBI singles in the seventh to make it 7-1. Husson did get two back in their last at bat, when McGuire tripled in a run and Rogerson scored McGuire with an RBI groundout but it wasn’t enough as the Eagles end their season with a record of 27-16.
Allender (4-4) took the loss allowing three runs on five hits in just that 1.2 innings of work. McGuire had three of the Eagles five hits. Deljanin and Ramirez had two hits each for the 17-18 Baruch Bearcats. Warner (4-1) earned the pitching win allowing just one run on four hits in 5.0 innings. McCabe earned the MVP of the weekend series.
It is the first ever NCAA Tournament bid for a senior college out of the City University of New York Athletic Conference. Baruch will find out their opponent and location for the Division III national tournament on Monday at noon. Husson will graduate key players McGuire, Covey, Chapman, and Allender but will have plenty of talent coming back for the 2020 baseball season under Head Coach Jason Harvey who coached in his 500th career game this season, and now has 284 career wins while at the helm of the Eagles.
Husson outfielder Nolan Brown makes contact with a pitch that ended up going foul in the seventh inning of game three of the NAC-CUNYAC championship series in Bangor on Sunday, May 12, 2019. Photo by Chris Lessner (click to enlarge)
