PASADENA, Calif. - The Dickinson baseball team collected 20 hits on the day and got a pair of stellar starting pitching performances on the day from
Austin Buzza and
Koll Peichel as they combined for 16 strikeouts to help finish off a three-game sweep of the host Caltech Beavers by posting wins of 12-6 and 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Caltech North Field.
Final Score - DEVILS 12, Beavers 6
Records - DEVILS 6-5 | Lions - 5-11
Pitching Decision - W -
Austin Buzza (2-1) | L - Kenji Farrell (1-5) | S -
Drew Norton (1)
Inside the Game
- After a scoreless first, Dickinson took a 1-0 edge during the top of the second as a single for Kyle Bailey and walk to Luke Gartland put two on with two down for Christian Kim. He took an 0-1 offering into left-center driving home Bailey. Nathan Bowman followed with a walk to fill the bags, but Josh Markley flew out to retire the side.
- Following a "three up, three down" shutdown frame for Buzza, the offense would give him some much needed run support during the third as doubles from from Matt Torres and Bailey coupled by a single for Ryan Thompson accounted for two runs coming home. A free pass to Johnny Bruno left two on for Gartland who deposited the ball into the outfield for a 4-0 edge. Later in the inning a fielder's choice pushed the lead to five, before a double steal between Bowman and Gartland stretched the margin to 6-0 after two-and-a-half.
- Caltech finally cracked the board in the home-half as two singles resulted in one crossing to make it 6-1 heading to the fourth.
- Dickinson needed just three batters in the top-half of the fourth to add onto their advantage as Kaden Sigmon doubled and Thompson walked, before Torres launched the Varun Gabbita offering over the left-field fence for a 9-1 lead.
- An inning later the Red and White pushed the gap to 10-1 thanks to a double for Will Ferris and single by Torres driving him home.
- The Beavers then got to Buzza during the last of the fifth picking up five runs on four hits, but being aided by three Dickinson errors (10-6).
- However, the Devils prevented a clean shutdown inning as Gartland singled to right in the sixth with one away, before crossing home a batter later when Chase Weller smashed the pitch into deep right-center for an RBI double. A pair of flyouts for Bowman and Sigmon stalled the rally.
- From then on it was all about reliever Drew Norton as he allowed just two base runners over the final three frames, while the Devils scratched one more across during the eighth to set the final tally of 12-6.
- Hits - Bailey, Gartland and Torres (3), Markley (2)
- RBIs - Torres (4), Bailey (2)
- Runs Scored - Gartland (3), Bailey, Thompson and Torres (2)
- Doubles - Bailey, Ferris, Sigmon, Torres and Weller (1)
- Home Run - Torres (1)
- Buzza (W) - 5.0 ip, 6 run (2 earned), 0 walk, 8 strikeouts
- Norton (S) - 3.0 ip, 0 runs, 1 walks, 4 strikeouts
Final Score - DEVILS 3, Beavers 2 (F/7)
Records - DEVILS 7-5 | Beavers - 5-12
Pitching Decision - W -
Koll Peichel (2-0) | L - Joseph Pieper (1-3)
Inside the Game
- For the second game in a row it was Dickinson striking early as Markley began the game by reaching on an error, before swiping second and advancing to third on a Thompson groundout That set the stage for Torres to smack an RBI single into left for a 1-0 lead.
- However, during the home-half the Beavers would respond against Peichel with a pair of doubles leading to the tying run coming in.
- Dickinson though would not allow the game to be tied for long as in the top of the second Bruno would draw a leadoff walk and would ultimately end up at third base off a groundout and a steal. Ferris drew a two-out free pass and swiped second to leave two in scoring position for Markley. The Devils leadoff hitter stroked Pieper offering into left plating both men for a 3-1 edge after two.
- Following a "one-two-three" top of the third for Pieper, his side pulled one back using two singles to get men on, before Jack Bernhardt poked the pitch to right making it 3-2 with three in the books.
- From that moment on Peichel and Pieper settled down with neither side mounting much of an offensive threat until the Beavers came to bat in the last of the seventh. A leadoff walk to Brendan Flaherty put the tying run, but two strikeouts and a groundout closed out a complete game effort by Peichel.
- Hits - Markley, Thompson and Torres (1)
- RBIs - Markley (2), Torres (1)
- Runs Scored - Bruno, Ferris and Markley (1)
- Peichel (W) - 7.0 ip, 7 hits, 2 runs (earned), 1 walks, 8 strikeouts
- Dickinson (7-5) returns from California having won five of six and will bring a four-game winning streak into a non-conference rematch with local rival Messiah University on Wednesday afternoon at 3:30pm. The Red and White will look to avenge a 16-4 defeat suffered at the hands of the Falcons in the final game before their Golden State venture.
