MIDDLESEX BASEBALL REACHES 20 WINS IN SWEEP OVER BUCKS COUNTY
Gage Bendix pitched a complete game allowing just two earned runs in Game 1 and Zachary Honimar hurled five innings without allowing an earned run in Game 2 as Middlesex College baseball swept Buck County College 6-5 and 11-4.
The wins moved the Colts to 20-11 on the season, marking the fourth time in the past five full seasons that Middlesex has won at least 20 games.
In Game 1, Bucks County (10-10) jumped out to a five-run lead in the bottom of the first inning, but that would be all the scoring the Centurions would do in the game as Bendix didn't allow another hit until the fifth inning.
Middlesex began to mount their comeback in the top of the third when Braden Ramirez (Freshman/Middlesex, NJ) connected for a two-run homer, his fifth of the season.
The Colts drew closer in the fifth when they were able to creep to within one run of Bucks. Ramirez led the inning off with a walk and Connor Luckie (Freshman/Hamilton, NJ) followed with a single. They came around to score on a single by Matthew Flammia (Freshman/Colonia, NJ) and a fielder's choice by Nicholas Loniewski (Freshman/South Plainfield, NJ), respectively.
Middlesex tied the game in the sixth on a passed ball and then took the lead in the top of the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Colby Chippendale (Freshman/North Port, FL).
Bendix stranded the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the seventh, ending the game on a strikeout. The righty from Piscataway, NJ is now 4-0 on the season.
Every starter in the Colts lineup registered at least one hit with Christopher Born the only Colts to register two hits. Ramirez went 1-2 with two runs, two RBIs and two walks.
In Game 2, it was the Colts who jumped out to an early lead and they would not relinquish it as they went on to the sweep.
Middlesex plated six runs in the first, taking advantage of three walks, two hit by pitch and a wild pitch. Christian Petrillo (Freshman/North Brunswick, NJ) tripled and singled in the inning, driving in two runs while scoring one in the process. Flammia added an RBI single, Loniewski drove in one on a fielder's choice and Born walked with the bases loaded for the other RBIs that inning.
The Colts put the game out of reach when they scored four more in the fourth inning. Again, the big hit came off the bat of Ramirez, who drove home three with a bases-loaded double. Loniewski also drove home a run with a bases loaded walk. Ramirez drove home the final run of the game with an RBI single in the fifth.
Honimar didn't allow a hit until there was one out in the fourth in cruising to his first win of the season.
Petrillo and Ramirez, the top two batters in the Colts lineup, combined to go 5-7 with five runs and six RBIs. Loniewski drove in two runs as well.
Middlesex is one of just three Division III teams in Region XIX to have 20 wins on the season. RCSJ-Gloucester and RCSJ-Cumberland, the top two teams in the country according to the latest NJCAA poll, have also reached that mark. The Colts are scheduled to be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Montgomery CC for a 3:30 start.