Lyndonville, VT - The Vermont State University Lyndon baseball team beat the University of Maine at Presque Isle Owls by a score of 20-3 on Saturday afternoon. The game was the first of a scheduled doubleheader. However game two was called in the fourht inning due to rain,. The Hornets' record improved 10-19 and UMPI fell to 4-13.
After a three-hour rain delay, Jacob Wechselblatt took the mound for the Hornets. The Owls' leadoff batter, Sam Bay got on a base when he was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a stolen base. Wechselblatt ended the top of the first with a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to center field.
Nolan Christiansen was the starting pitcher for the Owls. Sophomore center fielder Evan Duncan (Little Elms, TX) was the leadoff batter for Lyndon and reached base on an infield single. He later stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore third baseman Bryan Nazario (Little Elms, TX). Freshman shortstop Eyon Tembreull (Vergennes, VT) walked and later stole second to put runners on second and third with one out. Junior first baseman Ryan Alt (Poultney, VT) walked to load the bases. Junior designated hitter Matt Gonyeau (Saint Albans, VT) hit a grounder to second base, but the Owls committed an error and that brought in Duncan and Nazario. Junior second baseman Dale Ostermann (Harrington, DE) hit a single to right center field to bring in two more runs. The Hornets now had a 4-0 lead. Christiansen walked senior left fielder Will Perkins (Holtwood, PA) and Ostermann advanced to third on a wild pitch. Perkins later stole second with still one out. Christiansen got his second out with a strikeout and closed out the inning on a line out to shortstop to leave Ostermann and Perkins stranded.
To start the top of the second, Anthony Searels got the Owls going with a leadoff single to right center. Jonah Baude hit a dribbler to Wechselblatt to get the first out at first base. Ian Michaud hit the ball right up the middle but Ostermann made a great diving catch to get the man out at first for the second out. The Hornets got the final out with a ground out to shortstop, leaving Searels stranded at third.
The bottom half of the second came and Duncan led off with a walk. He stole both second and third and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Nazario to right field. The Owls got their second out with a fly out to right field. Alt was hit and reached base, but was caught stealing second to end the inning.
Wechselblatt got his first out to start the third inning, but Bay hit a double to right field to try to start an Owl rally. Bay scored on a double to left center by Dylan Geren. Geren later scored on another double down the third base line by Garret Chadwick. That made the score 5-2. The Hornets got their second out on a fly out and got their third out on a lineout. Christiansen then put up a zero at the bottom of the third.
With one out at the top of the fourth, Michaud was hit by a pitch. Michael Langley reached base on an error and Ricky Garcia also reached base on a bunt single to load the bases with one out. Lyndon got a crucial second out on a pop fly. The Hornets were able to get out of the jam with a fly to center field.
Freshman catcher Austin Bigelow (East Hampton, CT) reached base on a single to center field to get the Hornets going. Bigelow advanced to second on a passed ball. He advanced to third on a bunt by freshman right fielder Brayden Ross (West Bridgewater, MA) and scored on an error in the same play to make the score 6-2. Ross was safe at first and stole second base. Duncan reached base on a walk and that was the end for Christiansen. Mason Long came in to relieve pitch with two runners on first and second with no outs. Both runners stole a base and Ross scored on an error. Duncan advanced to third on the play. The Hornets had runners on the corners with a walk from Nazario with still no outs. Tembreull also walked to load the bases with Alt hitting. Alt ended up walking and that brought in Duncan to make the score 8-2. Nazario scored and Tembreull advanced to third on a sacrifice fly to right field from Gonyeau. Alt stole second to have runners on second and third with one out. Ostermann got hit to reach base to load the bases again with just one out. Tembreull scored on a single from Perkins to make the score 10-2. The Owls got their second out on a pop fly to the outfield. Long got his final out on a strikeout to end the fourth.
Keegan Stephenson (Lander, WY) came on to pitch for the Hornets at the top of fifth and his first batter was Chadwick who hit a leadoff double down the third base line. He advanced on a passed ball and scored on a ground out to second base to make the score 10-3. Stephenson got his second out on a strikeout. Baude reached on an error to keep the inning alive for the Owls. Michaud also reached base on another error by the infield. The Hornets left those runners stranded with a ground out to shortstop to end the top of the fifth.
At the bottom half, Duncan reached base on an error and stole again second base to put himself in scoring position. He ended up advancing to third on a fly out to right field. Tembreull doubled to center field to bring in Duncan and that made the score 11-3. Danielle Moser came in to relieve pitch. Sophomore Isaiah Wittrig (Phoenix, AZ) came in to run for Tembreull. Alt got on base on an error and Wittrig advanced to third. Zinabu McNiece (Brattleboro, VT) ran for Alt. Wittrig increased the lead to 12-3 on a sacrifice fly to right field from Gonyeau. The Owls later got out of the inning on a pop fly.
Top of the sixth came and Garcia started off the inning with a single. The Hornets later got a double play and a strikeout to end the top half.
Freshman catcher Carter Paquette (Shoreham, VT) walked to get the bottom half going for Lyndon. Freshman outfielder Sean Dunton (Quechee, VT) hit a double to right field and Paquette advanced to third. He later scored on a single from Duncan. Nazario also singled to give the Hornets another run. Wittrig got hit and the Hornets had the bases loaded with no outs. Senior Chuck Gratton (Bennington, VT) pinched hit for McNiece and he reached on an error. Duncan scored on the play to give Lyndon a 15-3 lead. Junior Dalton Berry (Tavares, FL) pinch ran for Gratton. Nazario scored on a single from Gonyeau to give the Hornets another run. Ostermann was hit by a pitch and that brought in Wittrig. Langley came in to pitch and Stephenson ran for Gonyeau. Langley got his first out with a strikeout. Paquette doubled to right field to bring in Berry and Stephenson. That made the score 19-3. Dunton grounded out to first base and Ostermann scored to give the Hornets their 20th run. The Owls got their final out on a fly to right field.
Senior pitcher Dylan Crump (Falls Village, CT) came in to get the final three outs to give the Hornets a 20-3 win.
Wechselblatt earned the win for this game and his record now is 1-0. He pitched four innings, had two strikeouts, and gave up five hits. The Hornets had eleven hits combined.
Christiansen got the loss for this game. His record now is 0-1. Geren, Chadwick, and Garcia had two hits for the Owls.
The Hornets have now won four straight games and will hit the road on Monday to face the Thomas College Terriers in a North Atlantic Conference doubleheader.. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
