Rally Falls Just Short

The Alfred State baseball team rallied to within one but couldn't come all the way back as they fell to Roger Williams in Lexington, SC on Tuesday afternoon. The Hawks raced out a 6-0 lead after two innings but had to hold on as the Pioneers rallied.

The Hawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 1st when Tyler Cedeno collected a RBI single to center. They plated five runs on only three hits and took advantage of two Pioneer errors to build a 6-0 lead after two innings.

Justin LoTemple (Greece Athena) and Connor Pingitore (Amsterdam/Broadalbin Perth) hit RBI doubles in the 4th to get Alfred State on the board. Matteo Avallone (Mahopac/Bridgton Academy) hit a sac fly to right in the 5th and collected a RBI single in the 7th to make it 6-4. Avallone came around to score on a throwing error later in the 7th to cut the lead to 6-5. The Pioneers put two runners on with two outs in the 9th but Craig Demers got the final out to seal the victory.

The Pioneers offense was led by three hits each by Colin Johnson (Alfred Almond) and Avallone. Johnson finished 3 for 5 and eclipsed the 100 hit plateau in his career while Avallone was 3 for 4 with a pair of RBI. LoTemple also had a pair of hits as the blue & gold finished with 12 total knocks.

The bullpen of the Pioneers pitched 5.2 innings of no hit ball to keep the team in the game. Jarrod Deaton (Newburgh Free) tossed 2/3 of an inning, Connor Hong (Gates Chili) pitched two innings, Nicholas Scala (Staten Island/Moore Catholic) tossed two scoreless, and Chris Catoire (Brooklyn/Fort Hamilton) pitched a scored 8th inning. Combined the walked three and struck out six.

The Pioneers wrap up the South Carolina portion of their spring trip on Wednesday with a doubleheader. They take Case Western at Noon and Roger Williams at 3 p.m.