BRONX, NY

UMPI Baseball took to the diamond for the second of five doubleheaders on their spring trip. Having split the day before with U-Maine Augusta, they traveled to the Bronx to take on the Lehman College Lightning for an afternoon twin bill.

Game 1 (9-2 Owls)

How it Happened:

Despite the bats slowing down in game two on Saturday, they slowly but surely returned to form in the front end of Sunday's doubleheader. The Owls added a run in the 2^nd and 3^rd innings. Lehman added one in the 4^th to bring the game to 2-1 going into the final three frames.

In the 5^th, the Owls started to string things together. They manufactured one by stealing a base after a hit by pitch, followed by an RBI single from Garret Chadwick, then a couple walks loaded the bases with two outs. That brought up Sophomore Michael Langley. With two outs and a 1-0 count, Langley went down and got a pitch low in the zone and drove it out. The two-out grand slam blew the game wide open, putting UMPI on top 7-1 after the fifth. After blanking Lehman in the home half of the 5^th, the Lightning added a run in the 6th, then UMPI responded with two more runs of added insurance in the 7^th. The Owls cruised to the win, by the final of 9-2, improving their record to 2-1.

At the Plate:

Despite nine runs, UMPI had only five hits as a squad. Five different players delivered the hits as well. They were led offensively by Michael Langley who had five RBI thanks to the grand slam. He finished the day 1 for 4. Hector Perez had a single to lead off the game again, going 1 for 3. Garrett Chadwick had his first hit of the season, and scored twice, Anthony Searels had a double and an RBI. Ian Michaud singled in the 7^th for the Owls' fifth and final hit of the contest. Gabe Wheeler and Dylan Geren added two other RBI for UMPI.

On the Mound:

It was a masterful first outing of the year for Garrett Chadwick who went the distance for the Owls. He struck out six batters throughout the seven innings of work, walking just one, and allowing one earned run. The hard thrower earned his second career win on the bump. 

Game 2 (16-14 Owls)

How it Happened:

Game two became the story of the day, as both teams slugged it out from the very beginning. UMPI scored in the top of the first on an RBI single from Gabe Wheeler. But this time, Lehman took exception, answering in a big way in the bottom of the first with two, two-run home runs to take a 4-1 lead. UMPI rallied back with two runs of their own, beginning with a solo shot from Michael Langley, his second bomb of the day. Lehman answered in the next half yet again with two more runs to make it 6-3.

UMPI had to play from behind from here on out, adding a run in the 3^rd on a double from Garrett Chadwick, but the deficit grew when Lehman came through with three more runs in the next half to go up 9-4. The teams traded a run in the 4^th inning, including the third home run of the day for Lehman via a solo shot to lead off the inning.

In the 5^th, trailing 10-5, UMPI came through with their biggest inning thus far starting with a lead off triple by Sam Bay who scored on an error on the same play. A Gabriel Wheeler double brought in a second run, and then an RBI single from Dylan Geren scored a third run. The Owls cut the deficit to 10-8 going into the bottom of the inning.

Like they had done all day however, Lehman responded. The Lightning manufactured three more to answer back and keep a comfortable, five-run lead, up 13-8 going into the last two innings.

But the Owls refused to go away quietly.

To start off the top half of the sixth, Hector Perez homered to left field, wrapping the foul pole to spark the offense again. A couple walks, and a couple singles later, and the Owls had brought it to within a run with a four-run inning. They continued to put the ball in play and force the hand of Lehman. It was 13-12 going into the bottom of the sixth. UMPI finally got their first scoreless inning of the game when they went they set them down in order.

In the 7^th, UMPI needed to score to keep the game going. It started with a single from Dylan Geren, but he was immediately thrown out at second after a passed ball ricocheted diretly back to the catcher in time for him to make a perfect throw to nab Geren. Jonah Baude walked to get a runner back on again. After a hit by pitch, the Owls had two on with one out. A sac fly moved Baude to third base, bringing up Garrett Chadwick, the best returning average from last season. The Lightning elected to intentionally walk him to face Gabriel Wheeler instead, who was 3-4 with a double and three RBI at that point.

Wheeler made them regret that decision almost instantly.

After taking the first pitch for a strike on the outer half, Wheeler stroked a hanging curveball on the inside corner, sending it to deep left-center and out of the yard. For the second straight game, a grand-slam proved to be the tipping point. This time, they were down to their final out, but some clutch hitting by the Owls first-year outfielder gave them their first and only lead of the crazy game.

In the bottom of the 7^th, Lehman rallied, but not before UMPI could close it out. The exhausting three-hour contest finished with a score of 16-14.

At the Plate:

When you score 16 runs on 17 hits, there are bound to be a lot of heroes. Five players had multiple hits, but they were led first and foremost by the guy that came through in the clutch. Gabriel Wheeler finished the game 4-5 with seven RBI, including the grand slam and a double. Dylan Geren had three singles, with an RBI. Hector Perez went 2-4 with a home run, Sam Bay with 2-4 with a triple and a double. Garrett Chadwick went 2-3 with a double. Hayden Coury and Aiden Toy had doubles while Michael Langley had a solo home run. 

So many different guys came through for UMPI in the team effort. The Owls had an unbelievable nine extra base hits: five doubles, a triple, and three home runs.

They also stole six bases throughout the contest, extending the potential of their offense.

On the Mound:

It took a village of arms in a slugfest like this, but the hero of the game was Jonah Baude and his three innings of relief. He came in on zero days rest, having thrown a complete-game win the day prior. He allowed six hits and five runs, but only two of them were earned. He didn't walk a single batter, now with 10 innings of work on the year, and still no walks.

After starter Mike Langley ran into trouble in the first inning, Mason Long entered in long-relief and tossed 2.1 innings, allowing five runs, which got UMPI into the third inning. He turned the ball over to Garrett Chadwick who also just threw a complete game less than two hours earlier. Chadwick got an out to finish off the third, getting the ball to Jonah Baude from there.

In the 7^th, Baude ran into trouble to start the inning, so the Owls went quickly to Spencer Harman, the fifth pitcher to appear in the game and also the third arm who had thrown a complete game within the last 24 hours to take the hill in the game. Harman struck out the first batter he saw and then got a ground out followed by a fly out to finish the job. He earned his first career save and put the cherry on top of an all-time great UMPI Baseball win.

Next Up:

With this win, UMPI sets a couple of milestones:

• Most hits in a game since 2022: (4/21 @ UMF, 25 hits)
• First doubleheader sweep since 2022: (4/21 @ UMF, W 6-1, W 18-5)
• First known 3-1 start ever.

The Owls improve to 3-1 on the season and will have a couple of days off before they get going on the first conference games of the year at SUNY Cobleskill on Wednesday, March 19^th. First pitch of the doubleheader is at noon.