PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (March 13, 2024) – The USMMA baseball team lost its final game of the Snowbird Classic down in Florida to the Stevens Institute of Technology, 8-3, on Wednesday afternoon. The setback drops the Mariners' record to 2-6 on the season, while the Ducks improve to 7-5.
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Freshman
Christian Gamez (Kent Island, Md.) was one of three Mariners with two hits on the day, as he went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
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Senior
Tyler Reistetter (Dickinson, Texas) and junior
Garrett Clapsaddle (Murphy, N.C.) also knocked in runs for Merchant Marine on the day on successive plays in the bottom of the third, as a Reistetter triple scored freshman
Landon Troutt (Fairfield, Calif.) before Clapsaddle hit a sacrifice fly to center that plated Reistetter.
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Those two runs in the third tied the score up at 2-2, after Stevens had taken the lead in the top of the first inning on two passed balls during the same at bat that started with the bases loaded and two outs.
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The Ducks regained the lead with a two-run homer in the fourth inning and extended it to 5-2 in the fifth on an obstruction call at the plate that allowed a run to score. In the bottom of the fifth, USMMA loaded the bases with no outs, but a strikeout and a double-play thwarted that opportunity.
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The Mariners were able to get one run back with Gamez's RBI-single in the bottom of the sixth that scored sophomore
Ernest Darling (Highland, Ill.) to make it 5-3, but they were unable to bring any more runs across despite having bases loaded once again thanks to back-to-back strikeouts by Stevens' junior reliever Matt Villapiano, who earned the victory.
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The Ducks tacked on three more unearned runs and the Mariners went 1-2-3 the rest of the way.
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Freshman
Tommy Chiappetti (Buckeye, Ariz.) suffered the loss despite pitching six innings and allowing just two earned runs (five total) with four strikeouts. Sophomore
Eddie Lippert (Deer Park, N.Y.) was solid for two innings, allowing just an unearned run on one hit with one K.
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The Mariners' Spring Break trip is not over yet. They will play in the Cusic Classic a little farther down I-75 in Fort Myers, Fla., on Friday and Saturday, beginning with a showdown against Franklin & Marshall this Friday, March 15. Opening pitch is scheduled for at 3 p.m. at historic Terry Park Ballfield. Live stats (and hopefully a live video feed of the game) will be available with links on
the USMMA Baseball Schedule Page.
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