Auburndale, FL - Trailing 13-6 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Northern Vermont University-Lyndon baseball team staged a big rally, only to come up a little short, as they fell 13-6 to Castleton University in the opening game of Tuesday's doubleheader at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.  The Spartans then completed the sweep by pounding out 17 hits and scoring 15 runs in the fourth inning on the way to a 23-4 victory.  Castleton evens their record at 2-2 on the season, while the Hornets fall to 0-5.

Game 1 - Castleton 13, NVU-Lyndon 10

Castleton was paced by Andy Kenosh, who delivered a pair of base hits and five runs batted in.  Jeremy Johnson also had two hits and scored four runs.  Michael Pena (New City, NY) had a big game for the Hornets with three hits, including two doubles, and three runs batted in.  Caleb Laroche (Franklin, VT) had a triple and a single and Codi Smith (Hartford, VT) had a pair of base hits.

Garrett Moran started and went four innings, striking out six, to earn the win for Castleton.  Lyndon starter Tyler Davis (Barre, VT) was tagged with the loss.

Game 2 - Castleton 23, NVU-Lyndon 4

Leading 5-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, the Spartans broke the game open by sending 21 hitters to the plate and scoring 15 runs in the inning.  Ryan Lawrence reached base three times in the inning, scoring twice and driving in three runs.  Johnson had a huge game for Castleton with three hits, including a double and a triple, four runs scored, and four runs batted in.  Daniel Petrie drove in five runs for the Spartans.  Smith had two hits and scored once for the Hornets.  Tyler Murro (Littleton, NH) and TJ Santaw (Newport, VT) each drove in a run.

Zack Marlow went four innings with eight strikeouts to earn the win.  Cameron Flinn (Barre, Vt) took the loss.

The Hornets will return to action at the RussMatt Invitational on Thursday at noon when they face Capital University on Lake Myrtle Park Field #6.