Box Score BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Norwich University baseball team travelled to take on Southern Vermont College in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday afternoon.
The Cadets withstood a late Mountaineers rally to win 9-6 and collect their third consecutive victory.
Freshman designated hitter Andrew Fisher (Tewksbury, Mass.) got the Norwich offense started with an RBI single in the top of the first inning for a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the second inning sophomore shortstop Mike Lesco (Somers, Conn.) delivered a ground-rule double with the bases loaded that scored senior centerfielder LaShawn Thomas (San Antonio, Texas) and sophomore rightfielder Dustin Spatz (Bernville, Penn.) to extend the Norwich lead to 3-0. Freshman third baseman Eamon Smith (Rollinsford, N.H.) followed with an RBI groundout and Fisher added an RBI single to make it 5-0.
The Mountaineers got a run back in the bottom of the second but the Norwich bats rallied for four more runs in the top of the fifth. Thomas hit an RBI single up the middle that also advanced Spatz to third. Thomas then stole second which allowed Spatz to steal home on the throw. Thomas came around to score on a wild pitch and then Lesco added an RBI groundout for a 9-1 lead.
Southern Vermont rallied for one run in the fifth and sixth innings, two in the seventh and one in the ninth but fell short with the 9-6 final.
Sophomore Matt Paze (Carlisle, Mass.) collected the win for the Cadets to improve to 1-1 on the season. He allowed one earned run on two hits and no walks. He struck out three batters.
Sophomore Jake Ryan (Arlington, Mass.), freshmen Nick Landis (South Berwick, Maine), Scott Svalestad (East Hampton, Conn.) and Daniel Bendig (Bellmore, N.Y.) and junior Eddie Gates (Griswold, Conn.) all pitched in the contest as well.
Norwich improves to 9-16 overall while Southern Vermont falls to 7-16.
The Cadets are next in action on Saturday, April 22nd when they host Johnson & Wales (RI) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference doubleheader at Garrity Field. The games are set for 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
