Lynn, MA - The Vermont State University Lyndon baseball team rode a dominating pitching performance from sophomore right hander Jack Holley (San Gabriel, CA) to their first North Atlantic Conference victory of the season, a 2-1 decision over the University of Maine at Presque Isle on Sunday afternoon. The Hornets followed that up with a come from behind non-conference win over Fisher College. Lyndon improved to 4-8 on the season, while UMPI fell to 4-6 overall and Fisher fell to 12-12 thus far in the campaign. The Hornets evened their NAC record at 1-1, while the Owls fell to 1-3 in conference.
Game 1 - VTSU Lyndon 2, UMaine-Presque Isle 1
The Hornets got on the scoreboard in the home half of the second inning. Eyon Tembreull (Vergennes, VT) walked leading off. Ryan Alt (Poultney, VT) and Dale Ostermann (Harrington, DE) followed with singles to load the bases. Carter Paquette (Shoreham, VT) then delivered a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Tembreull and putting Lyndon in front. EJ Camden (Dorona, CA) then got down a squeeze bunt to score Alt and make it 2-0, Hornets.
Those would be the only runs that Lyndon would score off of UMPI starter Jonah Baude. However that would prove to be all the support that Holley would need. He allowed only a walk and an infield hit in the third inning through the first seven frames.
Gabriel Wheeler beat out an infield hit leading off the top of the eighth inning. He moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt, then stole third. Wheeler came home when Mason Long beat out another infield hit, cutting the Lyndon lead to 2-1. Holley would close the door from there, giving the Hornets the win.
Holley went the distance to pick up the win, striking out ten against only one walk over nine innings of work. Baude took the loss, allowing six hits and four walks while striking out a pair over eight innings.
Game 2 - VTSU Lyndon 9, Fisher 7
Fisher held a 7-2 lead through seven innings before Lyndon staged a huge rally in the top of the eighth inning. Camden's bases loaded walk brought home the first run of the inning. Paquette followed with an RBI single, then back to back bases loaded walks to Austin Bigelow (East Hampton, CT) and Evan Duncan (Little Elm, TX) drove in two more runs, cutting the Falcon lead to 7-6. A wild pitch allowed Paquette to score with the tying run. The Hornets then moved in front when they plated two runs on a wild pitch and throwing error.
Having come all the way back to take a two-run lead, Lyndon called on junior reliever Isaiah Gutierrez (Nashua, NH) to close the game out. Gutierrez came through, pitching two innings of scoreless relief to send Lyndon home with the win. Gutierrez earned the save, while Mike Redmond, the fourth Hornet pitcher, was credited with the win. Esteban Santos-Fuentes, the third of five Fisher pitchers, was tagged with the loss.
Lyndon will travel to Anna Maria College for a non-conference game on Thursday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 pm.
