DAVENPORT, Fla. – The Colby-Sawyer Chargers split their doubleheader against the Colonels of Curry College with a walk-off win in game two at the Northeast Regional Park in Davenport, Florida on Wednesday afternoon, improving their overall record to 2-6.

GAME ONE: 

• The Chargers started strong with junior captain Ian Turpel (Cohasset, Mass.) going 2-4, sparking the Chargers offense early in the first with a line drive in the 5-6 hole for his third hit of the season. Turpel would eventually make it to third after an error advancing him to second and a stolen base putting him in scoring position. Junior Cooper O'Brien (Vergennes, Vt.) singled to right field to score Turpel and put the Chargers on the board first. A sac bunt by junior Ben Brennan (Marblehead, Mass.) would then force an error on the pitcher, scoring junior Jake Choiniere (St. Johnsbury, Vt.).  A deep fly ball to right field would place O'brien on third with Brennan stealing second on the next pitch. Camacho drew the walk to load the bases bringing up sophomore Zach Rogers (Mashpee, Mass.) who would take one on the back to score O'Brien and extend the Charger lead to three.
• Starting on the mound for the Chargers was senior Kaelen Close (Beverly, Mass.) with his third start of the season. After a double from Brett Heggs, a sac bunt would then put the Colonels in scoring position in time for a hard base hit to the right side scoring Heggs and putting Curry on the board. Close would then give up his first home run of the season allowing two more runs for the Colonels. A deep sac fly to right field advanced what would be the lead scorer until a nice play from shortstop Griffen Wheeler (Penacook, N.H.) gets the Chargers out of the inning with the score knotted 3-3.
• After a full run of the Charger lineup in the first inning, the top of the second would start with the lead off batter, Tommy Sasso (Grafton, Mass.) who would fly out to the left fielder bringing up Turpel who earned a double on a shot down the left field line for his second hit of the day. The captain would then steal third on a wild pitch and score on a passed ball to take back the lead going into the bottom of the second 4-3.
• The bottom of the fourth would see a pitching change from the Chargers with senior Jackson Parmentier (Higganum, Conn.) who allowed two runs and one hit on the inning showing a 5-4 score with the Colonels in the lead. The next three innings would remain scoreless with the Chargers dropping the first game of the doubleheader.

GAME TWO:

• A couple gap shots by the Colonels early in the first inning put them up 2-0 over the Chargers to start the second game. In his next at bat, Turpel responded collecting his third hit of the day, advancing to second on a failed pickoff attempt and scoring on a double by Choiniere to cut the Colonel lead in half.  O'Brien would then homer to earn two rbi's and propel the Chargers to a 3-2 lead.  
• In the bottom of the second, Turpel continued his hot streak with a single to center field to score sophomore Jack Matarese (Ashand, Mass.) and advance Sasso to third. Turpel would then steal second, forcing a throw in which Sasso stole home extending their lead to three over the Colonels.
• First-year Kenneth Spratt (Wantagh, N.Y.) took the mound for the Chargers in his fourth appearance on the season allowing three runs, five hits and leaving four runners on heading into the bottom of the third.  Back to back hits from O'Brien and first-year catcher Ben Mensch (Tampa, Fla.) placed runners on first and third with first-year Jesse MacGlashing (Pittsfield, N.H.) up to bat. The rookie earned his second RBI of the season with a sacrifice grounder to the right side scoring O'Brien. The remainder of the inning was quite sending the Chargers into the top of the fourth with a 6-3 lead.
• First-year Josh Finkle (Littleton, N.H.) relieved Spratt in the fourth after a single up the middle which scored another Colonel run making the score 6-4. Finkle would then get out of the inning allowing only two hits and one run with a new score of 6-5, Chargers.
• A change in pitcher in the top of the sixth would bring up closer Erik Rohs (Lovettsville, Va.) for his third appearance of the season. A sac fly and a wild pitch would place the Colonels at a 7-6 lead. The top of the seventh would see another hit from Turpel to start the Chargers off. Choiniere provided a successful push bunt passed the Colonel defense to put two runners on. A sac grounder by Mensch moved the runners into scoring position with MacGlashing singling to the short stop, scoring Turpel to tie it up 7-7. Matarese came up big with a walk off hit to center field to score pinch runner Brady Holmes (West Yarmouth, Mass.) and take the 8-7 win over the Curry College Colonels.

Notes & Notables:

• Turpel finished the day with five hits in eight at bats, collecting four runs, one RBI, and a double. On the offensive side, the junior earned seven put outs and two assists keeping his solid 1.000% fielding percentage.
• O'brien went four for seven with three runs and three RBI's. The Vermont native earned a double and his first homerun in the 8-7 victory.
• Rohs collected his first win on the mound with the Chargers, pitching 1.2 innings, allowing zero hits, zero runs and three strikeouts.

Player Spotlight:
When asked his thoughts on the week, walk off hitter Jack Matarese said, "I think we've been playing some pretty good baseball, we've obviously had some tough losses, but we came back today and grabbed a win, that's huge for us but we still have a long week to go". The sophomore spoke on his game-winning hit saying, "it was electric, I love that our team stayed in the game. I was 0-2 against that kid that came in in the second half of the game so it was a huge hit for me and I'm just, you know, happy to be here".

Up next:
The Colby-Sawyer baseball team returns to action, tomorrow March 17^th against University of Maine – Presque Isle at Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale, Florida. The doubleheader is set to start at 9:30am.

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