The baseball team extended its win streak to five games as it took down SUNY-New Paltz 12–1 today at Freeman Field.
After getting off to a slow start offensively, going hitless through the first two innings, junior shortstop Brian Grastorf led off the bottom of the third with a walk that led to a seven-run inning.
“It’s all about our approach at the plate, choking up, spreading out, looking for the right pitch to hit and zoning it up,” senior captain and first baseman Alan Kartholl said.
With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, already up 7–0, sophomore leftfielder Matt Streich added insult to injury with a three-run homerun to put the game out of reach.
The Bombers have been successful with two outs all season, scoring seven of their 12 runs with two outs.
“One of the things we’ve talked about is get it done whatever way you can,” Head Coach George Valesente said. “Do what you have to do in these situations, which means if we’ve got two outs and you need to try to put a ball in play and plunk it, you’ve got to battle and do that. They’ve really caught on to that and they’ve really done a good job of continuing to do it in pressure situations and key situations.”
With a big lead, Valesente was able to get some inexperienced players in the game and the hit parade continued with freshman Russ Martens and sophomore Matt Parsons both picking up RBI hits in the sixth.
“We’re pretty deep,” Grastorf said. “Even the kids that came in at the end of the game, everyone can hit on our team and everyone’s working on hitting all week.”
Valesente said he was not sure how the team would react to playing at home for the first time, but he was glad to see good results.
“Sometimes you’re anxious and it’s your first home game,” he said. “Your girlfriends are here, your parents are here. But this team all year long has shown a resilience and an ability to battle through things, and fight through things and they did it again today.”
Though their offensive attack led the team, their pitching was solid as well. Five different pitchers saw the mound, not because any of them were struggling, but because Valesente said he wanted to get many players in the game.
Each of the five pitchers, junior Tom Fishback, sophomores Dan Lynch, Aaron Sapp and Andrew Wall and freshman Brian Eggleston, let up two hits or less in their appearances. They combined for 11 strikeouts and did not allow an earned run.
The Blue and Gold continue their season at 1 p.m. Saturday against Rochester Institute of Technology in a doubleheader in Rochester, N.Y.
