MIAMI SHORES, Florida - Freshman left fielder Matt Krause hit two home runs, including an inside-the-park dinger and a grand slam, as part of a 3-for-5 day with 7 RBI, but the Barry University Buccaneers scored five in the ninth to steal a 12-11 win from the American International College baseball team on Tuesday, March 14.
AIC falls to 3-5 on the season, while Barry improves to 13-11.
Krause did not wait long to get his squad on the board. With rookie right fielder Dan Frawley on second after a single and wild pitch, Krause hit a line drive off the center field wall, and managed to scamper the entire 360 feet of the basepath to give his squad a 2-0 lead.
Four batters later, the lead would double thanks to a double, as freshman shortstop Joe Pepe stroked a double into the right-center gap to drive in his classmates, DH Colin Nicklas and first baseman Andrew Ciaccarelli for a 4-0 lead.
The Buccaneers battled back, scoring a pair in the home half of the first and tying it up with a two-run double in the bottom of the third.
The teams traded runs for a few innings thereafter, with freshman center fielder Owen Wosleger drove in Pepe with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and Barry responding with a run of their own in the home half and taking a 5-4 lead in the fifth.
In the sixth, Krause flipped the script again. Taking advantage of a single, walk, and error by Barry, Krause belted a four-run blast to right-center for the Yellow Jackets, giving his team the lead back, 9-6.
Barry did get one back in the home half of that frame, but in the eighth, AIC expanded the lead again, with Krause doubling in Frawley and Nicklas hitting an RBI single in the infield to extend the edge to 11-7.
In the ninth, Barry cut the lead to one on a three-run shot to make the score 11-10, knocking freshman reliever Cam Winiarz out of the game after he had thrown the three prior innings. The Bucs tied the game two batters later with another dinger into right, and then ultimately won on an error at shortstop that allowed the winning score to come in from third.
Senior Anthony Crudale started on the bump for AIC, going five frames and allowing six runs on 13 hits in a no-decision; Winiarz also did not earn a decision after allowing four runs. Rookie reliever Brendan LaVallee absorbed a blown save and a loss with two runs allowed in 0.1 innings. Freshman Dean Streich was on the bump when the winning run scored but did not take a decision as the run was charged to LaVallee.
The Yellow Jackets return to action on Wednesday, March 15 with a game against Palm Beach Atlantic University. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
