PLYMOUTH – Do you ever have one of those days where everything seems to go your way? Well, everything went in favor of the Plymouth State baseball team this past Friday in Plymouth.
In what was truly an offensive showcase and defensive nightmare, the Panthers crushed the Colby-Sawyer Chargers, 15-7 at Panther Park. The Panthers left the game with a 10-18 record, while the visiting Chargers went away with a record of 15-16.
The game actually started out a little shaky for the Panthers. Starting pitcher Nick Jowders gave up three runs in the first inning, giving up RBI singles to shortstop Steve Hansen and first baseman Ryan Connolly. But PSU answered right back in the bottom of the inning and never relented. They scored five runs in the bottom of the first alone as errors and erratic pitching by freshman Vinny Viraldi helped give the Panthers the advantage.
From then on, everything went PSU’s way. Jowders settled down and ended up pitching four solid innings, and was then complemented with sophomore Ryan Lavelle, who completely dominated in the three innings he pitched, giving up only three hits and striking out six batters while collecting the victory. The last two innings were closed out by freshman Chris Welch.
But for the Chargers, the first inning was just a taste of what was to come. Viraldi continued to struggle, and his defense was just as shaky, making a grand total of six errors by the time the game was through. The Panther’s offensive assault was led by senior first baseman Adam Kobeski, who picked up three hits and four RBI, and is now leading the Panthers in hitting with a .385 batting average. Freshman infielder Josh Roberti also led the charge, picking up three hits. Sophomore Josh Labossierre, who leads PSU in both the hits and runs scored categories, and seniors Scott Begalle and C.J. Rousseau, who had a two out, three run double in the fourth inning, each chipped in two hits apiece.
Plymouth State split a twinbill with UMass Boston this past weekend, then played Castleton State on Wednesday. The Panthers head into this weekend hosting a doubleheader Saturday at noon against the Southern Maine Huskies.