Lyndonville, VT - The Vermont State University Lyndon baseball team dropped a non-conference home game against the Vermont State University Castleton Spartans by a score of 10-5 on Wednesday afternoon. The Hornets fell to 12-22 on the season, and Castleton improved to 13-23 on their season.
The starting pitcher for the Hornets was junior Nathan Bigelow (East Hampton, VT). He got his first out with a strikeout. Jack Boyle singled to right field, then advanced to second on an error. Bigelow also got his second out with a strikeout. Boyle stole third, but was left stranded with another Bigelow strikeout.
Stephen Coffey was the starting pitcher for the Spartans. He got his first out on ground out, but freshman third baseman Bryan Nazario (Little Elms, TX) reached base on an error. The Spartans got their second out on a fly out to center field. Junior right fielder Matt Gonyeau (Saint Albans, VT) hit a double to right field, but Nazario was out at home trying to score to end the first inning.
Brandon Ramirez started the Castleton second inning with an infield single. Mason Meinke hit a single to left field, still with no outs. Trey LaVigne walked and that loaded the bases. Christian Giannone hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Rameriz to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. Meinke and LaVigne advanced to second and third on a throwing error in the same play. Meinke then scored on an error to give Castleton their second run. The Hornets got a big second out on a pop fly to center field, but Jack Boyle hit a three run homer to right field to give the Spartans a 5-0 lead. Jackson Cardozo walked to keep the inning going, but the Hornets got their final out on a fly out.
In the bottom of the second, junior first baseman Ryan Alt (Poultney, VT) was hit by a pitch. Senior designated hitter Chuck Gratton (Bennington, VT) got on base on walk. Castleton got their first out on a fielder's choice and got their second out on a pop fly. Freshman outfielder James Ripley (Jeffersonville, VT) doubled and Alt scored to give the Hornets their first run. Coffey left the runners on second and third stranded on a strikeout to end the inning.
Bigelow ended the top of the third with no trouble. Nazario singled to right field to start the bottom half for the Hornets and later advanced to second on a wild pitch. The Spartans then got Nazario out on a play at third. Gonyeau singled to right field to put two runners on base. Alt hit a deep fly ball to left field, but it was caught and the Hornets got doubled off on the play to end the inning.
Bigelow got his first two outs at the top of the fourth, but Tommie Shaw kept the inning alive with a single to right field. The top half ended on a fly out to center field. Coffey held the Hornets to another scoreless inning in the bottom of the frame.
Junior pitcher Isaiah Gutierrez (Nashua, NH) came in in relief to pitch at the start of the fifth. He got his first out on a strikeout. Justin Strozyk got on base for the Spartans with a single to left field and later stole second to put himself in scoring position. Gutierrez walked Ramirez and Strozyk advanced to third on a wild pitch. The Spartans had runners on the corners with one out. Ramirez stole second and Strozyk scored on the play to make the score 6-1 in favor of the Spartans. Gutierrez got his second out with another strikeout. He got his final out on fly out to center field.
Senior outfielder Will Perkins (Holtwood, PA) led off the bottom half of the fifth with a double. The Spartans got their first out on a line out to center field. Nazario singled right up the middle to put runners on the corners. Freshman shortstop Eyon Tembreull (Vergennes, VT) singled to left field to bring in Perkins, giving the Hornets their second run. Carter Chapman then came in to relieve Coffey. Both runners advanced to second and third on a balk. Gonyeau singled to bring in another run and make the score 6-3. Alt hit a double to center field to bring in Tembreull. Gratton then grounded out to shortstop to bring in Gonyeau. Chapman left the tying run stranded on pop fly to left field.
Freshman pitcher Adam Guenther (Southington, CT) came in to relieve pitch for Gutierrez at the top of the sixth inning. He got his first two outs with a pair of strikeouts and got his final out on a ground. Keaton Nann came in to relieve for Chapman to start the bottom of the sixth. He got his first two outs on ground outs. Sophomore outfielder Evan Duncan (Little Elms, TX) reached base on a two out walk. He got to second base on a stolen base. Nazario got hit by a pitch to reach first base. Both runners got a stolen base, but were left stranded on a ground out to shortstop.
To start the seventh, Boyle got a leadoff hit for the Spartans. The Hornets got their first out on a fielder's choice. Strozyk got another hit to left field to put two runners on base with one out. Ramirez walked to load the bases with one out and freshman pitcher Tyler Kimball (Vergennes, VT) came in to pitch for the Hornets. Meinke hit a three run triple to clear the bases to extend the lead 9-5. LaVigne hit a single to center field to bring in Meinke. LaVigne was caught stealing and the Hornets got their final out on a ground out to the shortstop to end the inning.
With one out at the bottom half of the seventh, Alt got on base on an infield single. The Spartans got their second out on a strikeout and their final out on a line out to third.
Junior pitcher Keegan Stephenson (Lander, WY) came in to relieve Kimball to start the eighth. He got his first out on a ground out to shortstop. Stephenson got his second out with a strikeout. Boyle got on base on walk and went on to score on a double by Cardozo. The Hornets later got their final out on a ground out to third base.
Kyle Wilson came in to pitch for the Spartans at the bottom half of the eighth. Freshman catcher Austin Bigelow (East Hampton, VT) reached base on an error to start the inning, then Castleton got their first out on a pop fly to left field. They later got their second out on a fielder's choice. Nazario hit a double to right field to keep the inning alive for the Hornets. The Spartans left the runners in scoring position on a ground out to the shortstop to end the eighth.
Senior pitcher Dale Ostermann (Harrington, DE) came in to pitch for Hornets at the top of the ninth. He got his first two outs on fly outs. The Hornets ended the top of the ninth with a ground out to first base. To start the bottom of the ninth, the Spartans got their first out on a fly out. Alt got another hit to put himself on base with one out. However the Spartans ended the game with a double play, closing out the 11-5 victory.
Bigelow received the loss on this game and he's now 3-3 on the season. He pitched four innings, struck out three batter and allowed five runs. Nazario, Alt, and Gonyeau combined for nine hits out of the twelve hits for the Hornets. Alt and Gonyeau both drove in one run for Lyndon.
For Castleton, Nann got the win in relief and moved to 1-1 on the season. He pitched two shutout innings and struck out one batter while allowing only one hit. Boyle went 3-4 with a homer to drive in three runs. Strozyk and Meinke both went 2-5 with Meinke having three runs batted in.
The Hornets will have their Senior Day on Saturday afternoon as they face off against SUNY Cobleskill in a North Atlantic Conference doubleheader. First pitch is at 1:00 pm, with Senior Day recognition before that.
