KINGS POINT, N.Y. (May 4, 2024) – The USMMA baseball team split its Saturday afternoon doubleheader with the Mount St. Mary Knights at Bartoszek Field. MSMC won Game 1 by a score of 1-0 and Merchant Marine bounced back to win Game 2, 10-0. With the split, the Knights finished their 2024 season 11-29 (5-15 Skyline) while the Mariners' record moved to 24-14 (13-5 Skyline).
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Game Links
Game 1 was a pitchers' duel between senior
Tyler Reistetter (Dickson, Texas) and junior Liam Horan for the Knights. Reistetter had history in his sights from the first pitch of the afternoon as he only needed three strikeouts to pass
Andrew Spinnenweber ('19) for the most punchouts ever by a Mariners pitcher.
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In short order, Reistetter struck out Shane Finch swinging for his third strikeout to end the second inning. The lefty's 260th career strikeout broke Spinnenweber's previous team record of 259 set from 2016-2019. Junior catcher
Garrett Clapsaddle (Murphy, N.C.) kept his pitcher's historic strikeout ball for safe-keeping as the Mariners headed to the dugout.
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Similarly to his duel with Myles Scarry of Purchase on April 14, Reistetter matched zeroes with Horan inning by inning. The only difference was that Game 1 of today's doubleheader did not require extra innings.
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A one-out RBI double in the top of the sixth by the Knights' third baseman William Reese Kelly proved to be the only run scored in Game 1. Horan went on to toss a seven-inning shutout and earn the road win for Mount St. Mary.
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In defeat, Reistetter tossed a seven-inning complete game and struck out 11 Knights batters. For the sixth time in 10 starts this season, Reistetter fanned 10 or more opposing hitters.
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USMMA flipped the script in Game 2 as their offense gave plenty of run support to sophomore starter
Ryan Felton (Granbury, Texas). An RBI groundout by junior
Travis Leatherwood (Catonsville, Md.) in the first inning put Felton and the Mariners up a run early.
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Still leading 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, the Mariners have a feel-good moment four years in the making. In his 207
th career at-bat, senior
Brice Garner (Fort Collins, Colo.) socked the first home run of his career over the left field fence. Garner's two-run shot stretched USMMA's lead to 3-0 and brought the entire Mariners team out of the first base dugout in celebration of one of their senior captains.
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Unsatisfied with a three-run lead, the Mariners' offense put the game away with a seven spot in the bottom of the fifth. Leatherwood started the scoring with an RBI single for his second ribeye steak of Game 2.
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Sophomore
Charles Cahalan (Overland, Park, Kan.) followed with a two-run single two batters later to make it 6-0 Mariners. Freshman
Ben Bridges (St. Petersburg, Fla.) immediately followed with an RBI double down the right field line. Leading 7-0, junior
Jack Millen (Shelby, N.C.) came with five feet of a grand slam and settled for a long two-run single to extend the lead to 9-0. Freshman
Tommy Chiappetti (Buckeye, Ariz.) capped the seven-run fifth with a sacrifice fly to put the 10-run mercy rule in play.
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Ten runs were a king's ransom for Felton, who pitched like he had a one-run lead all game. With the lead and mercy rule in hand, the Mariners' right-hander never let a Knights runner reach third base.
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When his team needed him most, Felton put together his best outing of the 2024 season. For the second time in his last three starts, Felton tossed a seven-inning complete game. After beating Maritime 7-4 on April 20, Felton this time threw a seven-inning three-hit shutout to lead the Mariners to victory.
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Felton is getting hot at the right time of year as he has struck out 22 batters in his last 21 innings over his last three starts. With today's shutout, the righty lowered his season ERA from 5.82 to 4.93.
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Up next is a quick turnaround for the Mariners. USMMA is right back in action tomorrow afternoon at Bartoszek Field at 3 p.m. for a Skyline doubleheader with the Old Westbury Panthers. Merchant Marine will look to close out the regular season on a high note before they head into postseason play later next week. Live stats and a live video feed of the doubleheader will be available with links on
the USMMA Baseball Schedule Page.
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