Box Score Winter Haven, FL – The D'Youville baseball team fell to St. Olaf on Tuesday afternoon in nine innings by the final score of 9-5.
St. Olaf began the scoring in the top of the first inning. They scored four runs on four hits and took a 4-0 lead over the Spartans. In each of the third and fifth innings, they tacked on another run and increased their lead to 6-0.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Spartans got on the board. With two outs down, Michael LiPani (Irondequoit, NY/Irondequoit) walked to get a runner on base. The next batter, Nick Stimpfel (Aquebogue, NY/Riverhead), came up and hit his first career home run to cut the deficit to 6-2.
The next inning, St. Olaf would make up the two surrendered runs and tack on a third, taking a 9-2 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, the Spartans chipped away at their deficit. Matt Critelli (Camden, NY/Camden) pinch hit for LiPani and singled. Khaled Numan-Ali (Cheektowaga, NY/Cheektowaga) then pinch ran for Critelli and moved to third on a Stimpfel double. Dylan Haak (Depew, NY/Depew) was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat, loading the bases.
During the next at-bat, the St. Olaf pitcher balked and Numan-Ali scored to make the game 9-3 and moving Stimpfel to third. Haak stole second and then advanced to third on a Thomas Brummer (Amherst, NY/St. Joe's) single that scored Stimpfel, making the game 9-4. Eric Simoncelli (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) then had a sac-fly to right field, scoring Haak. Haak's run would be the final run of the game as the Spartans lost to St. Olaf by the final score of 9-5.
Freshman Tyler Goodridge (Lockport, NY/Lockport) took the loss in his second game of the season. Goodridge went 6.1 innings and struck out two. Will Pack (Pendleton, NY/Starpoint), Kevin Kabacinski (Buffalo, NY/St. Joe's) and Brian Mattina-Chmiel (Orchard Park, NY/Canisius) all saw time in relief. With his appearance, Mattina-Chmiel broke the school's all-time appearance record.
Haak and Stimpfel tied for the team lead with two hits each. Stimpfel recorded a team high two RBI and two runs, while Brummer and Simoncelli each recorded an RBI as well. Josh Hammer (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home) and LiPani also recorded hits in the game.
The Spartans will be back in action on Wednesday, March 23rd as the team takes on Crown in a doubleheader beginning at 12pm.
