HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Hilbert College baseball team earned a 5-4 walk-off win in the bottom of the 8th in Game One of the AMCC series against Alfred State.
With that victory,
Drew Fittry became the baseball program's All-Time Win leader skippering the Hawks into his third season and
Ian Moran jumped into a 1st place tie for Most Stolen bases in a career, also accomplished in three seasons.
Noah Welch hit pushed pinch runner
Frank Propis home for the game-winning run in the bottom of the extra inning.
Prior to the start of the first game played in Hamburg this season, the coaches and team honored seniors
Tristan Aldinger,
Treyton delaCuesta and
Michael Goodberry in the final game on campus.
GAME 1
It was a pitching duel from the start as Hilbert's
Zachary Crane lasted seven innings and struck out six while Alfred State's AJ Gartland went 4.1 innings and fanned nine.
Crane gave up six hits, three walks and three earned runs as Gartland, in a shorter appearance, walked two, gave up seven hits and two earned runs.
Senior
Michael Goodberry, who got his second win of the season, faced three batters in the 8th, struck out one and grounded out the other two to put the Hawks back on offense.
Jonathan Wilson double to left, the Pioneers made a pitching change at the same time Propis entered as a pinch runner. Senior
Treyton delaCuesta sac bunted Propis to 3rd and Welch singled to left and celebrated in the 2nd base path line with his teammates who rushed the field.
Wilson went 3-for 4,
Griffith DeMayo (2-for-3) and Welch joined Wilson with the team's doubles on the day and senior
Tristan Aldinger knocked in two RBIs.
GAME 2
The evening game looked like it would play out as the opener did. But Alfred State expanded on the 3-3 score through two innings and exploded for 116 more runs over the next three innings before the Hawks benefitted from
Noah Welch's second home run of the game.
The junior short stop earned Hilbert's first earned run in the 2nd which knotted the game at 3-3. Welch then reached long for a 2-run homer over the center field fence in the 5th.
The Hawks went through seven pitchers looking for an answer to Alfred State's sticks.
By the end of the day, Fitty's overall win record stands at 25-71. Goodberry became the program's All Time leader in most appearances and most games finished. Aldinger sits in a 1st place tie with Most Triples and yet there are a few more non-conference games to be played on the baseball schedule.
The Hawks (6-23) will play a double header at Cazenovia College April 25 and then head back to the Amherst Northtown Center for a non-conference series against D'Youville College April 27. The final game on Hilbert's 2019 schedule is a road twinbill at Cobleskill April 30.
