Auburn, N.Y. – The third-seeded Rensselaer Red Hawks (36-11) rallied twice, then held off an 10th-inning rally to beat the fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State Warriors (32-15-1) in Saturday’s first game of the NCAA Division III baseball regional tournament hosted by Ithaca College at Auburn’s Falcon Park. The Red Hawks advance to \take on top-seeded Cortland in the championship round. Rensselaer would need to beat Cortland twice – once Saturday at 5 p.m. and once in Sunday’s winner-take-all game – to win the regional title and a trip to the Division III World Series. Cortland needs only one win for the regional title.
Rensselaer scored three runs in the top of the 10th, then held on as Eastern Connecticut put its four batters on base in the bottom of the inning.
A run-scoring double by sophomore Camden Mamigonian, an RBI single by freshman second baseman Dan Stroud and a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Noah Poissant gave the Red Hawks a three-run lead.
Sophomore third baseman Melvin Castillo, who hit two doubles and a three-run home run, led off the Eastern Connecticut 10th by drawing a walk and stealing second. Junior designated hitter Shawn Gilblair singled and junior first baseman Tristan Hobbes followed with a two-run double that brought the Warriors to within a run. After freshman right fielder Jim Schult walked to put the winning run on base, junior reliever Andrew Novick cut down the tying run at third on a failed sacrifice bunt attempt, then induced an infield pop-up and struck out Eastern Connecticut’s final batter on three pitches.
Novick, who won Rensselaer’s NCAA opener in relief, earned the save. Sophomore Andrew Mondo, who allowed two hits in four innings, was the winner.
The two teams combined for 32 hits (16 apiece) and either Cortland or Rensselaer scored in all but one inning – the ninth.
Sophomore first baseman Andrew Krushelnyski’s two-run single sparked Rensselaer to a three-run first. The Warriors picked up single runs in the first and second, then took their first lead in the third when Castillo, Gilblair and Schult all doubled. Gilblair went four-for-six with three RBI’s and Schult had three hits.
Rensselaer scored six runs in the fourth – including five two-out runs. The big hit was a long grand slam to right field by senior designated hitter Ken Carroll.
Castillo’s three-run home run capped a six-run Eastern Connecticut fifth that put the Warriors back on top.
Sophomore left fielder Patrick Reardon’s RBI double in the sixth tied the game and after Eastern Connecticut took its final lead on Gilblair’s seventh-inning single, Mamigonian tied the score with a two-out pinch-hit single in the top of the eighth.
