Myrtle Beach, S.C. – The Chargers fought till the end, but the Wildcats pulled away in extra innings as New Haven dropped a pair of games to Wilmington for the first day in Myrtle Beach on Friday afternoon.
Game 1 – Wilmington 13, New Haven 12
New Haven captured the lead in the second inning, putting up four runs. Tyler Wells (Danville, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy) led of the rally with his first homer on the season finding the fence in right. Cole Maucere (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) picked up an RBI on a bases loaded walk, while two other runs would score on a wild pitch.
The Chargers added three more runs in the third inning, then broke open the lead with single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh and a pair in the sixth, eventually taking a six-run lead into the ninth. Among the highlights for the Chargers in that stretch were a pair of RBI doubles from Andrew Cain (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) and Shaun Callahan (Newington, Conn./Newington). Andrew Bianco (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) also drove in a pair of runs on a double to left as he knocked in Noah Budzik (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell) and Josh Lester (Amityville, N.Y./Copiague) in the sixth.
After cutting into the New Haven lead with three runs in the seventh, Wilmington stormed back with a six-run ninth inning tying the game at 12. After a scoreless 10th inning, Wilmington took the lead in the top of the eleventh when a sac fly brought in a run for Wildcats.
Izaiya Mestre (Pittsfield, Mass./Taconic) earned the opening day start on the mound for the Chargers, allowing three hits and two runs over four innings, tallying up three strikeouts in his season debut. Overall, six Chargers took the mound for New Haven, with Drew Silverman (Commack, N.Y./Commack) suffering the loss . In 2.1 innings of work, Silverman gave up just one hit and struck out one.
Despite the loss, New Haven collected a total of 13 hits, Leading the way for the chargers was senior Tyler Wells (Danville, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy), graduate Andrew Cain (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) and graduate Andrew Bianco (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) who all finished with a trio of hits, while graduate Josh Lester (Amityville, N.Y./Copiague) finished with a pair.
Game 2- Wilmington 6, New Haven 5
A walk-off hit by pitch left the Chargers on the wrong end of a 6-5 defeat to Wilmington in the second game of their afternoon doubleheader.
New Haven opened up the scoring with four runs in the fourth inning and added one more in the fifth for a 5-0 lead before allowing Wilmington on the board. A pair of home runs highlighted the two innings for the Chargers, with Wells second of the day driving in two of the four runs in the fourth and Bianco going for a solo fly to right in the fifth.
Wilmington answered back with a single run in the fourth before tying the game with four runs in the fifth inning. After a scoreless seventh inning and top of the eighth, the Wildcats earned the walk-off win with bases loaded in the eighth.
Sophomore Liam Carroll (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) earned the start in game two, pitching five innings and allowing four earned runs, five total. He also finished with a staff best of five strikeouts on the day. Freshman Tyler Sausville (Schenectady, N.Y./Colonie Central) took the loss for the Chargers surrendering one run on one hit over two innings, striking out three and allowing one walk.
For the game, New Haven scattered seven hits, with six different players finishing with at least one. Leading the way was freshman left fielder Owen Pincince (North Haven, Conn./North Haven) who went 2-for-3.
UP NEXT
The Chargers will continue their opening weekend trip to Myrtle Beach on Saturday with a single afternoon game scheduled against Chestnut Hill. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
