PSU Hardball Sweeps Eastern, Falls to Keene

PSU Hardball Sweeps Eastern, Falls to Keene

Krajewski, Pitching Staff Dominate at Home; Team Struggles at KSC

Justin Siewierski
Editor-in-Chief
js2010@plymouth.edu

For the first time in Plymouth State baseball history, the Panthers managed to sweep Eastern Connecticut this past Saturday, winning 7-3 in game one, and stealing the nightcap 2-1. Junior Jarek Krajewski (Cranston, R.I.) had both RBI’s in game two, including a walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth.

Graduate Student Cody Gilchrist (Tyngsboro, Mass) got the start in game one, going 5-and-two-thirds, giving up three runs on seven hits and three strikeouts. The Panthers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, when Krajewski scored left fielder Jake Broom (New London, NH) from third. Broom led off the inning with a first pitch single, before stealing second and third.

After tying it up in the second, Eastern would go on to take the lead on a solo home run from Alex Zachary in the third. Zachary would hit an RBI single in the fifth to extend the lead to two before Plymouth was able to respond.

In the bottom half of the fifth, Plymouth was able to pull back within one. Eric Leitch (Lanesboro, Mass) scored from third on an error, but Plymouth couldn’t capitalize with the bases loaded.  They would, however, tie the game in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a Jake Broom single.

With a new pitcher in the game, Plymouth would explode offensively in the bottom of the eighth. After three back-to-back singles, Luke Mancini (Scotia, NY) would drive in the eventual game-winning run. Fellow outfielder Josh Goulet (Nashua, NH) would walk to bring in another, and Cam Ruziak (Sterling, Mass) would hit a single to drive in a pair.

Senior Matti Doxter (Somersworth, NH) would come on in relief for Gilchrist, and it was lights out for Eastern from there. Doxter would go three-and-a-third, striking out three without giving up a hit. He would eventually pick up his second win of the year in the effort.

In game two, it was an allout pitchers duel. Freshman David Sampson (Bellingham, Mass) would face off against Eastern’s Jordan Muchin in what seemed to be the quickest nine-inning game of the year. “Sampson threw an overwhelming number of strikes, and threw up a lot of 0's,” said coach Clay Jenkins. “The pitching was fantastic all day long.”

Each pitcher would give up a run apiece, with Sampson going eight complete innings. Giving up one run on seven hits and three strikeouts, he would hand the ball over to Taylor Doyle (Peterborough, NH) in the ninth. Doyle would eventually earn the win in the matchup, but wouldn’t know that until the bottom half of the frame. With two outs and a full count, cue Plymouth’s most fearless hitter in Jarek Krajewski. His second home run would capitalize on the sweep, giving Plymouth its fifth conference win.

“He's been leading our team on and off the field all season long so far,” said Jenkins.

This past Tuesday, however, Plymouth would be set back against conference rival Keene State. “Keene was a down game for us. We did a lot of good things, but didn't come through with the big hits when we needed it,” said Jenkins.

Doyle would get the start for Plymouth, and would be pulled after five complete. The Panthers would throw four other pitchers in the eventual 11-4 loss, giving up a total of 14 hits on just three walks. Michael Crimi would give up two runs on four hits, and the Owl pitching staff wouldn’t allow more than six hits on the day.

“We battled for a few runs, but need to play better overall in order to keep pace with conference opponents,” said Jenkins.

Plymouth would act as the big brother to Rivier this past Wednesday, scoring 19 runs en route to a non-conference blow-out win. They play Framingham State this afternoon at home before returning to LEC action tomorrow, as they travel to Portland, Maine for a double header against Southern Maine.

CLOCK PHOTO/ALEX CROSSLEY