MIDDLESEX COLLEGE BASEBALL SETS SCHOOL RECORD WITH 32ND WIN IN DH SPLIT WITH ASA
Middlesex College set a school record for wins with 32 when they topped ASA College in Game 1 of Sunday's doubleheader 15-3.
The Colts dropped the nightcap 9-8 and now stand at 32-16 on the season.
Middlesex jumped out early in Game 1, plating two runs in the first. The Colts extended their lead in the second when Christopher Born (Freshman/South Plainfield, NJ) tripled home Kiefer Goss (Freshman/Hamilton, NJ) and Christian Petrillo (Freshman/North Brunswick, NJ) singled home Born with the 100th hit of his career as the Colts opened a 4-0 lead through two.
Middlesex scored two runs each in the third, fourth and fifth innings to extend their lead to 10-1, but they weren't done there.
Braden Ramirez (Freshman/Middlesex, NJ) hit a two-run double and Matthew Flammia (Freshman/Colonia, NJ) drove home two with a single to give the Colts their 15th and final run.
Gage Bendix (Freshman/Piscataway, NJ) pitched the first six innings and allowed ASA (11-12-1) just one run on four hits. The right-hander is now 7-0 on the season. Dante Duarte (Freshman/Union City, NJ) had the honor of closing out the game to nail down the team's record 32nd win.
Ramirez led the offensive onslaught for the Colts. He had three hits, two doubles, four runs and three RBIs. Flammia registered four RBIs on two hits and Born had two hits, a triple, three runs and three stolen bases.
The win was the 32nd of the season for the Colts, which bested the previous record of 31 which was set in 2002. Currently, only one other team in Region XIX has more wins than the Colts and there are only three NJCAA Division III teams in the country with more wins than Middlesex.
In Game 2, Middlesex jumped on ASA early when Flammia drove home Petrillo with a sacrifice fly in the first, but the Avengers answered with three runs in the top of the second. Middlesex tied the game in the bottom of the third and then took a 5-3 lead in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Ramirez and an RBI single by Flammia.
The back-and-forth affair continued in the top of the fifth when ASA inched closer with a run to make it 5-4. The Colts escaped further damage when Duarte was able to wiggle out of trouble with the support of Vincent Powers (Freshman/Colonia, NJ) who made a great defensive play at third. Powers would then score on an RBI single by Born in the bottom of the inning and after Duarte worked a scoreless sixth, it looked like that would be a key insurance run.
However, the Avengers rallied for five runs in the top of the seventh to take their first lead since the first inning. Middlesex couldn't rally in the bottom of the seventh and fell by a score of 9-6.
Middlesex has eight games remaining on the schedule before the Region XIX playoffs, which the team has already qualified for. The Colts are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Raritan Valley for a 3:30 game. Middlesex beat Raritan 15-2 earlier in the season at home.