DAVENPORT, Fla. – The Husson University baseball team earned a doubleheader sweep of Vassar College on Tuesday at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational, winning game one 9-1, before taking a close 5-4 decision in game two.
GAME ONE: Husson 9, Vassar 1
Sophomore Matt Holmes knocked out solo home runs in the fourth and fifth innings and Husson (2-3) posted five runs in the ninth inning to come away with a victory over Vassar (2-2) in game one of the day.
Holmes broke a scoreless deadlock in the top of the fourth inning when he cranked his second home run of the year to the opposite field to put the Eagles up 1-0.
Junior Hunter Curtis would get Husson back in scoring position with a double down the left field line and he would be brought in by classmate Tanner Evans on an RBI-single to right-center.
Evans would steal second base and an error and a walk would load the bases for the Eagles which led to a walk to graduate student Akira Warren to bring in the third run of the inning.
Holmes had more magic in his bat to lead-off the fifth inning, as this time he pulled a homer to right-center field to give Husson a 4-0 lead.
Vassar would notch a solo homer of its own in the home-half of the fifth, but the Eagles would add insurance runs in the top of the seventh to head into the final half-inning with a commanding lead.
A walk and a hit by pitch instantly provided the Eagles with two runners and Evans would produce a ball in play, which led to a costly throwing error to send a run home for Husson.
An RBI-single from senior Ryne Rametta added the sixth run of the contest for the Eagles and a sacrifice fly from senior Tyler Michaud and a bases-loaded, two-RBI single from graduate student Jackson Curtis broke the game open for Husson headed into the home-half of the seventh.
Graduate student Alex Smith finished off the final three outs to secure the win for the Eagles.
Evans led the Husson offense with three hits and an RBI, while Holmes added two hits and two RBIs and five other players recorded a base-knock.
Freshman Avery Lawrence earned the win on the mound, hurling five innings of one-run ball, while allowing just four hits, one walk and one earned run, in addition to striking out four.
Smith picked up the save by pitching two innings, while not allowing a base runner and striking out one.
GAME TWO: Husson 5, Vassar 4
Husson (3-3) took advantage of six Vassar (2-3) errors and came back from an early 3-0 deficit to pick up a win in game two and improve to .500 on the young season.
After a scoreless first inning, Vassar struck for three runs in the top of the second to take an early lead on the Eagles.
A lead-off double to begin the second led to an RBI-single one batter later, while a sacrifice fly and another RBI-single gave the Brewers the early advantage.
The Eagles got a run back in the home-half of the same inning, as H. Curtis was on second base with one out after producing a single and a stolen base, which led to an RBI-base hit from sophomore Henry Lausier.
Husson was able to hold Vassar to the minimum three batters in the top of the third and managed to shave another run off of the deficit in its next turn at-bat.
The Eagles took advantage of errors and a sacrifice hit to get within one run, as junior Colin Marshall reached base on an error from the Vassar infield, while Warren moved him into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt and Marshall crossed home plate on a fielding error on the first baseman during junior Cam Rendell's at-bat.
Husson broke the door open in the bottom of the fourth after H. Curtis reached base again to start the inning and another error and a hit by pitch would load the bases for the Eagles with no outs.
A one-out sacrifice fly from Marshall would plate the tying run and a two-RBI single from Warren on an 0-2 count gave the Eagles their first lead of the ball game.
The Brewers would get back within a run of Husson on an RBI-single in the bottom of the fifth, but junior Allen Wheaton would come out of the bullpen and pitch a perfect 2.2 innings to slam the door shut on a Vassar comeback attempt.
The Eagles managed to pick up a win in game two despite being out-hit 6-4, but the costly miscues from the Brewers gave Husson many extra opportunities at the plate.
Four different Eagles contributed one hit in the game, while sophomore Jack Lano earned his first win on the hill thanks to 3.1 innings pitched, allowing just three hits and one earned run, in addition to striking out three.
Wheaton secured his first save after punching out five of the eight batters he faced.
Husson will look to continue its momentum tomorrow when it battles Mitchell College at 2:45 p.m. in a nine-inning contest.
