COTUIT, Mass. – The Kettleers had a chance to take the lead, or even tie the game, in the fifth inning. Bases were loaded with no outs. A 4-1 game, Jack Natili (Cincinnati) struck out swinging to record the first out. Despite a fielder’s choice RBI groundout from Nolan Stevens (Oklahoma), the Ketts’ chance to add more runs in the inning was killed by a swinging strikeout from Ryne Farber (Auburn).
A rematch of Saturday’s season opener in Orleans, the Kettleers dropped their third game of the season, 8-2.
“I call it playing uphill,” head coach Loren Hibbs said. “We gave them way too many free bases.”
Scoring started in the second inning for the Firebirds, thanks to a sac-fly from Tristan Salinas (North Greenville), a groundout-RBI from Jaden Bastian (Florida) and capped off with a two-run homer by Michael O’Shaughnessy (Georgia).
Second-year Kettleer Joey Volchko (Stanford) struggled in his first outing of the season, pitching 2.2 innings and surrendering four runs on 58 pitches.
The Ketts’ bats were largely silent all game, totaling four hits. Jarren Advincula (Portal) led the offense with two singles.
The first run for the home team didn’t come until the fourth inning, when Case Sanderson (Nebraska) plated Farber on an RBI groundout, to cut the Orleans lead to three.
An RBI groundout from Stevens in the fifth inning brought Andrew Wiggins (Portal) home to cut the Firebirds’ lead to two.
Chase Swift (Virginia Tech) and Ryan Buckler (Florida Atlantic) combined for 3.1 innings of shutout baseball to keep the Ketts within striking distance.
It wasn’t until the seventh inning, with Max Haug (George Washington) on the mound, that Orleans broke the game open.
Bastian led off with a double and Coach Hibbs made the call to intentionally walk O’Shaughnessy, who went 3-6 with three RBIs and three walks in two games against the Ketts.
“It would have been nice to have another left-handed option in the bullpen,” Hibbs said of facing O’Shaughnessy. “He’s a really good player, and I can see why Georgia picked him up.”
Michael Crossland (UC San Diego) singled to right to bring Bastian home, and Robbie Lavey walked to load the bases for Elijah Ickes (Hawaii).
With the O’ahu native at bat, O’Shaughnessy scored on a wild pitch, and the runners advanced into scoring position.
Alejandro Garza (Cal Poly) gave the Firebirds a six-run lead with a single to center field. The second baseman was thrown out at second after the runs scored.
Cotuit will look to bounce back on the road in Harwich against the Mariners at 6:30 p.m..
“We’re going to give ourselves a chance to be successful,” Hibbs said. “We’re learning every day.”
