Mitchell beats Suffolk 9-3 in NCAA Division III baseball tournament

Mariners oust Suffolk in NCAA tournament

Harwich, Mass. — A resourceful Mitchell College staved off elimination on Friday.

The Mariners found a way to remain alive in the NCAA Division III Harwich Regional by relying on a freshman reliever to extend their baseball season and accomplishing the rare feat of scoring six runs in one inning without managing a hit.

A 9-3 victory over seventh-seeded Suffolk in the losers' bracket at Whitehouse Field set up an elimination game this morning at 9:30 game against fifth-seeded Ramapo College, N.J. (33-14) at Mass. Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay.

Mitchell's posted its third win in NCAA tournament history, but the sixth-seeded Mariners (31-9) have bigger goals on their mind.

"We're not satisfied with the regional win," coach Travis Beausoleil said. "We're satisfied with continuing our season. Our program has gotten to the point where we're not happy that we can just hang with these teams. We know we can beat these teams."

Mitchell would not be preparing for another game if not for freshman right-hander Roland Thivierge, who replaced struggling starter Jakari Pellegrini with two outs in the second inning.

In his NCAA debut, Thivierge (2-1) pitched with poise beyond his years. He finished the game, earning the win after allowing just five hits in 7.1 innings scoreless innings. He walked three and struck out four in his longest outing of the season.

"It was a huge team effort, but you can't talk enough about Roland

Thivierge," Beausoleil said. "He's a freshmen but he's got poise. He doesn't get fazed by situations, by runners on bases, by umpires. He's a vet and he showed it today." Case in point: the eighth inning. When the first two Suffolk batters reached base, Thivierge bore down and struck out the side to snuff the threat.

After recording the final out on a fly ball with two runners on in the ninth, a cool, calm Thivierge finally let loose and yelled, "Let's go!"

"You see the outs counting down and we were up by a couple of runs, so I figured I'm going to stop dancing and just go straight for them, because I had guys in the bullpen that could back me up," Thivierge said of the eighth. "I decided to lay it all on the line and got out of it."

For the second straight postseason game, the Mariners fell in a hole. This time, they trailed 3-0 entering the bottom of the second.

Mitchell seized the lead in unconventional fashion.

Taking advantage of wild starter Mark Fusco, the Mariners started the outburst by reaching base on a hit-by-pitch and four straight walks, the last two to Peter Abate and Markus Melendez to drive in runs.

New London's Jeremy Santos tied the score at 3-3 with an RBI groundout. After another walk, a throwing error led to two runs and Garet Griffin's sacrifice fly handed Mitchell a 6-3 lead.

To sum it up: six runs on no hits, with five walks and one big error.

Credit also goes to Mitchell's patient approach at the plate.

"After that inning, we looked up on the board and it was 6-3, and the kid was throwing a no-hitter," junior Eric Marriott said. "That was unbelievable. But we knew it was early in the game and we were going to get a hit eventually."

Delivering in the clutch has been a struggle through two tournament games. Mitchell scored its first eight runs, including two in a 3-2 loss to Keystone College in Thursday's opener, without RBI hit.

Marriott, a junior college transfer playing in his first NCAA tournament, finally broke that drought with a two-out RBI single in the sixth for a 7-3 edge. It was only Mitchell's third hit of the game.

The Mariners finished with five hits, including Kyle Hartenstein's two-run single in the eighth.

"Today was tough because of the wind offensively," Beausoleil said. "The wind was gusting in and it was cold. It was more of a March game than a May game. They battled."

Thanks to Thivierge, the Mariners still have some rested pitchers ready to go for Saturday. Senior Bryton Ferris will start.

If Mitchell wins Saturday morning, it will play another elimination game at 8 p.m..

There's an opportunity Saturday not only to stay alive but post a second win in a tournament trip for the first time in program history.

"With this team, I think we can do it," Marriott said. "I think we can win two games and go into Sunday and play for a championship." g.keefe@theday.com