CUA Baseball Sinks Coast Guard in Series Win
Image Courtesy of Susie Blanchard and Catholic Athletics.
By Sam Bergstrom
Last weekend, Catholic Baseball squared off with the Coast Guard Bears in an action-packed three-game series at Talbot Field. The first two games were played on Saturday, and the rubber match was held on Sunday.
The first match proved to be a close battle, with Catholic cruising to a 7-5 matinee victory. Senior LHP Roman Tozzi earned his second win of the year, tossing five innings while staggering seven strikeouts. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, senior outfielder Sammy Burman delivered a 2 RBI double to left-center. Junior outfielder Chase Falcon and junior third baseman Jack Bateman each followed up with RBI groundouts to put the Cards up 5-1 to end the first inning. Junior infielder Matt Perlin punched an RBI single up the middle in the third inning to put Catholic up 6-2. This was followed an inning later by a huge solo homer from Burman, increasing his RBI total to three. After leading 7-2, Catholic surrendered three crucial runs to the Bears over the fifth and sixth innings. However, the bleeding would stop there, as senior RHP Will Hanson pitched three stellar innings of no-run relief for Catholic. Sophomore RHP Jack Scholz sequentially closed out the game with his fourth save of the season.
Catholic would lose 9-7 in their second Saturday standoff with the Bears. Coming off his first career win against Rensselaer, freshman RHP Charlie Belli pitched 4 ⅔ innings, striking out four batters in the process. Much like the first game, Burman, Falcon, and Bateman all came through with RBI’s in an action-packed first inning, putting Catholic up 3-2. Coast Guard would respond promptly, taking a 5-3 lead after four innings. In the bottom of the fourth, junior outfielder Lance Eilbacher blasted a boisterous three-run home run to left field; the Cardinals regained a 6-5 edge. Coast Guard would then generate two runs in the fifth via passed balls, followed by a solo home run in the sixth to go up 7-6. Junior outfielder Gabriel Ruiz joined the home run party, slamming a solo shot in the sixth inning to tie it up at 7-7. This party came to an abrupt halt, as the Bears delivered a dagger two-run double in the eighth inning. Coast Guard convincingly closed out the game, holding Catholic hitless in the eighth and ninth innings.
On Sunday afternoon, the Cardinals coasted to a series victory, winning 4-3 in a tight rubber match. Sophomore southpaw Landon Penney supplied his first win of the season, pitching five innings while surrendering just one run. Penney’s lone earned run came in the first, when Coast Guard, yet again, jumped out to an early lead. Burman brought in his fifth RBI of the series, tying the game with a right-center double in the first. Burman then came home to score in the third inning, courtesy of a Falcon sacrifice fly to put Catholic up 2-1. Senior outfielder Jack Elwell delivered a sac fly of his own, followed by an RBI single by senior infielder Chris Esquivel, increasing the lead to 4-1 after four innings. After three innings of shutout baseball from both sides, Catholic committed a costly two-run error in the seventh; the Cardinals’ lead was now trimmed down to one. Junior RHP Luke Cardman did not let these runs rattle him and escaped the ninth inning with the save.
With this 2-1 home series victory against Coast Guard, the Cardinals improved their record to 7-3. On March 10 and 11, Catholic picked up two more wins against Rhode Island College. At the time of writing, the Cardinals are 9-3, sitting in second place in the Landmark Conference standings. Catholic will look to keep it rolling against the Drew Rangers (5-3) this weekend at Talbot Field. It will be a three-game series, which includes a Saturday afternoon doubleheader.
