By: Shannon Bickert
The Schooners continued their impressive season on the road, taking down Keene 5-2 on Wednesday, July 8. Mystic improved their road record to 9-1 on the summer and their overall record to 15-9.
Brady Bouchard (Stetson) earned the win through his four innings of work, striking out five. MJ Bollinger (UConn) earned the save for the Schooners.
Aiden O’Connell (Duke), Keene’s starter, allowed Gabe Natividad (Xavier) to reach on a hit by pitch in the opening frame. O’Connell got out of the inning not allowing a hit thanks to a pickoff from T.J. Schuyler (Georgia Southern).
Bouchard tossed a three-up, three-down first inning of work, striking out two Swamp Bats.
The Schooners opened the scoring in the second with a three-spot on two hits. Mystic put traffic on the basepaths early; Bryce Detwiler (UConn) led off the inning reaching on an error and Anthony Ruggiero (URI) wore a pitch. Anthony Belisario (Portal) plated the first run on an RBI-double down the third base line. Thomas O’Connell (UVA) kept the line moving, wearing the second pitch of the frame to juice the bases. Joel Collado (URI) scored Ruggiero on a sacrifice fly, giving Mystic a two-run lead. Jamie Zee (Notre Dame) added on with an RBI-single to right field. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, the Swamp Bats turned to Tyler Longoria (SJU), who stopped the bleeding.
Jackson Marshall (Louisiana) worked a walk in the second for Keene and Griffin Enis (UVA) followed, knocking Keene’s first hit of the evening, an infield-single. Bouchard got out of the jam with a strikeout, keeping Mystic’s three-run lead intact.
Mystic added on in the top of the third inning courtesy a two-run shot to dead center. Ruggiero reached for the second time in the third with a single through the right side. Belisario followed, ripping his second long ball of the summer over the center field fence, giving Mystic the 5-0 lead.
Collado led off the fourth inning with a single through the right side, but Longoria tossed a scoreless frame, inducing a double play.
Chris Polemeni (UConn) opened the home half of the fourth with a single and Marshall reached for a second time, wearing a pitch to put two on. The Swamp Bats were unable to capitalize and Bouchard kept the shutout alive.
Casey Wensley (Bryant) worked a four-pitch walk and Detwiler singled up the middle. Keene’s defense held the Schooners, turning a double play to end the top of the fifth.
The Schooners made their first call to the bullpen in the fifth to Luke Trout (Brown). Trout only allowed a base hit to Meglio in his first inning of work.
Parker Lind (Kent State) took over on the bump in the sixth for the Swamp Bats. Thomas O’Connell knocked a single through the right side and Collado worked a four-pitch walk against the fresh Keene arm. The Schooners ran into their third inning-ending double play.
Polemeni opened up the bottom of the sixth with a double to the right field fence. Marshall broke up the shutout with an RBI knock to deep center field. Marshall searched for extra bases, but Ruggiero made a throw from right-center field to get Marshall out at second. Mystic turned to the lefty, Calvin Gregory (VCU), who retired the first batter he faced to end the inning.
Sean Finn (St. Joe’s) took the bump for Keene in the seventh and held the Schooners scoreless for the fourth straight inning.
Dylan Fitzsimmons (SJU) led off the bottom half of the seventh with a walk, but Gregory stranded the baserunner, dealing a strikeout to end his night.
Finn retired Mystic in order in the eighth inning, recording his first strikeout of the day.
The Schooners turned to Connor Lane (UConn) in the bottom of the eighth to take the ball. Smith, Eli Stephens (GT) and Marshall all worked walks against Lane to load the bases. Smith came in to score on a drop third strike that got away from the backstop. Bollinger took the bump for Mystic with two outs and two in scoring position. The new arm for Mystic stopped the rally, holding the Mystic lead at 5-2.
Collado and Zee worked back-to-back walks in the ninth, ending Finn’s night. Sebastian Graham (Eckard) came out of the bullpen for the Swamp Bats and shut down the Schooners from adding insurance.
Bollinger earned the save, allowing one hit in the ninth and shutting down the Swamp Bats from making a comeback.
The Schooners return to the Shipyard to host the Newport Gulls on Thursday, July 9. Mystic trails the season series to the Gulls 1-2. First pitch from Ed Harvey Field is set for 6:30 pm.
