The men’s baseball team had fans on the edge of their seats as they foisted a nail biting come from behind victory over Northeastern this Saturday afternoon.
The Cats struggled in the first six innings allowing the Northeastern Huskies eight runs while scoring only two themselves. The first three of these came when Huskies first baseman Paul Koslowski sent one over the right field wall off a pitch from #1 Brandon Miles.
UVM’s cleanup batter Kyle Brault answered back in the second by hitting a long bomb over the left center wall then again in the fifth when #28 Bobby Tewksbary scored off a Brault grounder, giving Kyle a total of 21 RBI’s and 5 homers for the season.
These would be the only runs the cats would see until the seventh when their bats finally came alive in a stunning show of offensive determination.
Second baseman Dean Geoffry banged out a triple sending one runner home, followed by four consecutive RBI’s from Brault, first baseman Barry Chamberland, center fielder Leif Ekelund, and DH James Chapman, making this by far the most productive inning for UVM and closing the Husky lead to 9-7.
Northeastern upped their lead when DH Miguel Paquette pounded a double off the center field wall to bring one runner home. Eukland singled for the first hit of what would be a long ninth inning for Notheastern. Chapman then made it safely to second off a crucial Northeastern error, putting Eukland in scoring position at third.
The next batter Folley’s drive to left was caught, but enabled Eukland to tag up and score, leaving Chapman at second until the next batter #17 Nick Roberts singles him home.
Next up Tewksbary takes a shot to the head, followed by two wild pitch’s from reliever Adam Ottavino putting Tewksbary on third and allowing Roberts to steal home, making it a tie game.
It’s the bottom of the ninth there are two outs, a full count and the winning run is on third when Geoffry, batting a .339 for the season, sends a bouncing grounder between the short stop and third base to clench the victory for UVM.
With the exception of the bullpen the cats played a good defensive game allotting two double plays and holding the Huskies to 11 hits. This is despite the fact that Northeastern’s bats were on fire against UVM’s seemingly lacking pitching staff.
Freshman Brandon Miles, starting pitcher for the catamounts, threw six of the eight total walks allowed during the game, let up two home runs and a total of five RBI’s, and threw not one “K” for UVM.
Miles was relieved in the sixth by senior Jared Slater who managed to let up three RBI’s and one walk against the three batters he faced.
Slater, who has the highest ERA on the pitching staff with 9.55 and four losses this season, was then pulled for sophomore Chris Marsh who managed to end the inning unscathed.
Marsh over the course of three and a half innings let up only three hits and two runs to the Huskies on-fire offense, helping to turn the tables for the Catamounts.
This victory will help set the pace for what will be a tough three game series against the talented Northeastern team who hold a 12-10 record to UVM’s 9-14.
The Cats are scheduled to play a home game against Dartmouth on Tuesday before they depart for a three game series at Albany.
