FORT MYERS, Fla. – Trailing 12-3 entering the top of the eighth inning, the Plymouth State University baseball team rallied for nine runs to tie the game, then plated four more in the ninth to storm past Bluffton University, 16-13, in non-conference action during the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on Monday.
Despite facing the seemingly insurmountable deficit, the Panthers' bats were patient in the eighth using three singles, four walks, two errors and three hit batters to tie the game. Freshman
Danny Quinn (Holliston, Mass.) singled twice, scored a run and drove in two during the rally.
After a clean bottom half, junior
Alex Rives (Gilford, N.H.) and sophomore
Jackson Curtis (Jefferson, N.H.) ripped back-to-back doubles and sophomore
Luke Sokolski (Waterford, Conn.) singled to give PSU a 14-12 lead. Later in the inning, Quinn drove in two more runs to make it 16-12.
The Beavers put two runners on with one down in the bottom of the inning, but senior
Noah Wachter (Concord, N.H.) came in to get the final two outs to pick up the save for the second straight game.
Plymouth State wins its third straight to move to 3-5. Bluffton falls to 1-3.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 16, Bluffton 13
- Plymouth State (3-5)
- Bluffton (1-3)
How it Happened:
- Bluffton grabbed an unearned run in the bottom of the first, but senior Bryan McGrath (Franklin, Mass.) went deep in the in the second to square the game at 1-1.
- The Beavers plated three in the second, three more in the fourth and one in the fifth to go ahead 8-1.
- PSU threatened in the sixth. Junior Griffin Crane (Lancaster, N.H.) and Quinn both had run-scoring singles to make it 8-3 and the Panthers with one out but were unable to get any closer.
- Bluffton appeared to put the game out of reach with a four-run bottom of the seventh, but Plymouth State had different ideas.
- The Panthers quickly loaded the bases on singles from freshman Owen Baum (Saint Michaels, Md.) and Quinn and a McGrath walk. Another walk and a two-base error cut the margin to 12-6 and three straight walks pushed two more runs across and led to a Bluffton pitching change.
- Baum and McGrath were both hit by pitches to score two more runs to make it 12-10 and Quinn capped the improbable inning with a two-run single to tie the game.
- Riding the momentum, Rives and Curtis smacked consecutive doubles to start the ninth, giving PSU its first lead of the game, 13-12. Sokolski followed with an RBI single and later in the inning the Panthers added two more on a Beavers' throwing error for a 16-12 lead.
- Bluffton attempted to rally in its final at bat as the first two hitters reached to bring Wachter in from the bullpen. He was promptly greeted with a double to make it 16-13, but he quickly recovered to get a huge strikeout and a grounder to first to close out the win.
By the Numbers:
- Quinn finished with four hits (4-for-6) and drove in five runs.
- Curtis (single, double) and Baum (two singles) also had multi-hit games for the Panthers, while Rives, Sokolski, Crane and McGrath each drove in two.
- The Panthers worked nine walks in the game, with Curtis, Sokolski and McGrath drawing two apiece.
- Freshman Jason Smith (Charlestown, Mass.) picked up the win after going 1.1 and allowing just one run on two hits. Wachter was the only pitcher for either team to not be charged with a run. He did allow an inherited runner to score but recorded the final two outs for his second save in as many days.
Up Next:
- Plymouth State is off tomorrow, but will square off against Saint Elizabeth University in a twin bill on Wednesday (Mar. 9) with games at 9:00 a.m. and noon.
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