By Chris Gionta
@Chris_Gionta
MIT committed nine errors on Tuesday afternoon at Archie Allen Field, and the Springfield College baseball team made sure to not let those mistakes waiver.
“We took advantage of some of their inabilities to throw and catch the ball,” Springfield head coach Mark Simeone said. “But I think we did a good job putting the ball in play and being aggressive on the bases, and I think some of our aggressiveness may have induced some of those errors.”
The first inning saw some offensive opportunities for the Pride. After Joe Traversa was hit by a pitch, Jack Simonetty drilled a hard line drive into left field that bounced to the wall. Simeone had Traversa go for home, but an efficient relay from the Engineers allowed them to throw him out at the plate. Simonetty reached third on the play, but when the next batter grounded the ball to the shallowly-playing second baseman, he was also thrown out at home.
The first run of the game scratched across in the second inning from Springfield. Ryan Sorgi and Jack Cooney started the inning with a double and single respectively to put runners on the corners. With one out, Noah Diamond softly grounded the ball to the second baseman, who tossed the ball to the shortstop not in time to get Cooney, all while Sorgi scored.
However, in the top of the third inning, Springfield starting pitcher Michael White ran into a jam. The leadoff batter doubled, and the two batters following him were hit and walked to load the bases with no one out. To shift the momentum, White induced a 4-6-3 double play and struck the next batter out to escape with only one run allowed in the inning.
“He beared down and made some of his best pitches with guys on base,” said Simeone on White’s performance.
Springfield responded quickly, as Simonetty walked to start the bottom of the inning. After he advanced on a passed ball, Noah Bleakley drove him in on a single to regain the lead.
In the fourth inning, the flood gates began to open. Andrew McCarty led the inning off with a single, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a passed ball. After a walk, he was driven in on a Traversa single. An RBI groundout then an RBI double from Cadin Maynard made the score 5-1 in the Pride’s favor.
The fifth inning brought more noise from Springfield’s bats. After a Sorgi ground-rule double and a McCarty infield single, Diamond hit a fly ball that was misplayed by the right fielder to score two runs and extend their lead to seven.
MIT regained life in the top of the sixth inning with a two-out rally. With a man on first, the Engineers singled, and an error scored a run to make it 7-2. Another single followed, and after that, a home run made it 7-5.
Yet, this did not stop Springfield’s offensive barrage whatsoever. The team responded with five runs in the bottom half of the inning, and added five more in the bottom of the seventh. Because of the NCAA rule that allows for games to be ended after seven innings if the deficit is ten or more runs and if the teams agree to stop the game, the game ended after seven innings with Springfield winning, 17-5.
Sorgi, a sophomore catcher, was a notable performer on Tuesday — going 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs batted in. He is now hitting .373 with a .569 slugging percentage on the year along with 15 RBI in 16 games.
“I love Sorgi. He’s a really game competitor — really solid behind the plate, and he’s been big in some big spots offensively,” Simeone said. “He’s a guy who’s continued to improve every day.”
Springfield will look to build off their dominant victory on Thursday at Rivier at 6 p.m. Their next appearance at Archie Allen Field will be on April 9 for a doubleheader against Wheaton that starts at 12 p.m.
Photo: Springfield College Athletics