The men’s baseball team brings their record to 1-3 for the season after falling to William Paterson University on February 27.
The game was highlighted by three runs, one scored by senior Victor Schilleci and two by sophomore Chip Krese. Both teams came out strong, with the Ducks and the Pioneers tying at two in the first inning. It was in the first when Schilleci and Krese both put one on the board with graduate-student Frank Tonina at bat. The Pioneers tied them at two with a home run and attempted to get a lead on the Ducks, but were stopped by efforts from Schilleci and Tonina.
Despite the multiple attempts at scoring from both teams, five innings passed without any scoring from both sides. At a particular attempt in the second inning by the Pioneers, graduate student pitcher Justin Doyle ended the play with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout. In the third the Ducks couldn’t find themselves past first base, and in the sixth they had runners on the corners, but the inning ended with a fly out and groundout. The tie was broken in the seventh inning with a run by William Paterson, but the tie did not last long. Krese moved to second with senior Eli Somers hitting, and scored the run with first-year Jack Reichlin hitting.
With an attempt by senior Evan Pravato to re-take the lead, a strikeout ended the inning. William Paterson ended the game with a sacrifice play, giving them one more run and the lead on the Ducks. Despite their best efforts throughout the game, the Pioneers took the victory with a final score of 4-3.
Regardless of the loss, there was still impressive gameplay from the team including senior pitcher Joe Gonzalez making a third appearance in five days, throwing two innings which is a season-high for him. Senior Liam DeRubertis notched his first hit of the season, Reichlin finished 1-for-4 with the run batted in in the eighth that tied the game, Schilleci drew three free passes which gave him six for this year, and Krese marked his fourth straight game where he reached home base safely at least twice.
On March 1, the men’s baseball team went up against Rutgers University-Newark where they faced another loss at 8-14. The Ducks can be seen again on the field on March 9 in a double header against Middlebury College at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Dobbelaar Baseball Field.
