WORCESTER, Massachusetts – Program, conference, and even national records were set as the American International College baseball team won a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader 31-27 and 4-0 on Tuesday, April 22.
AIC is now 15-19 overall and 9-8 in the NE10.
The first inning started innocuously enough. Josh Frometa worked a one-out walk and took second on a wild pitch, and two batters later, Nick Serce hit a flare to left field that was out of the reach of Assumption's shortstop. Frometa, who had been off on contact, scored on the play.
After Assumption stranded two runners in the home half of the first thanks to three straight swinging strikeouts from Alvin Gomez, Brendan Edvardsen led off the second with a triple, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Aidan Streeter. The Greyhounds again put the first two men on in their half of the inning, and again failed to score.
It was in the third inning that the runs started piling up. Yeudy Ramirez, Frometa, and Leandro Guevara all singled to load the bases. Serce hit a ball up the middle that put Guevara out, but he reached and Ramirez scored. Caffrey then singled to drive in Frometa, and Edvardsen reached to reload the bases on a dropped fly ball in center field. Streeter made that hurt with a two-run single, and Sam Tanous walked to reload the bases.
Cole Patterson flew out to right, scoring Edvardsen and bringing the leadoff hitter Ramirez back to the dish. He slammed a pitch into the left-center gap and took off, rounding the bases and beating the throw home for an inside-the-park home run. Frometa followed with a much more traditional longball to left, putting AIC ahead 11-0.
The Greyhounds had a quick response, scoring five times in the home half; after a catcher's interference call, Jack Barry hit a home run. A walk and two singles later, the Greyhounds had a third run, and another walk, along with two wild pitches, plated another pair.
Just as quickly, AIC added to its lead. Caffrey and Edvardsen singled, and Streeter walked to pack the bags for Tanous, who hit a two-run single to center. Patterson followed with an RBI to left, and then stole second; he and Tanous scored on Ramirez's single. Ramirez swiped second and third, and then Serce crushed a two-run shot over the pavilion and onto the field at Brian Kelly Stadium. Caffrey went deep right behind him for AIC's eighth run of the inning and a 19-5 lead.
Cody Smith and Barry led off the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back solo home runs, and the Greyhounds added an unearned run on a throwing error to pull within 19-8. AIC countered with three of their own the next inning, as Streeter and Tanous walked; Ramirez singled Streeter home, and Frometa doubled to right to score Tanous and Ramirez. Midway through the game, AIC led 22-8.
Assumption had the biggest half-inning of the game in the home portion of the fifth. Barry hit his third longball of the game, a three-run shot. Assumption then loaded the bases, and a hit batsman brought in a run before a two-run single added to the total. A wild pitch and a single each drove in a run, and Barry came up and hit his Assumption-record fourth home run of the game to center, a two-run shot that cut AIC's advantage to just 22-18.
AIC shook off the offensive eruption as Caffrey walked and took second on a wild pitch; he advanced to third on a groundout, and then scored on another wild pitch. AIC was then able to stop Assumption's offense, holding the Greyhounds to a two-out single in the bottom half. Both teams score one in the seventh, with Guevara hitting an RBI groundout for AIC, and Smith homering for Assumption.
The eighth was another big inning for both teams. Streeter led off with a double and was lifted for Justin Oquendo to pinch run. Tanous then popped a bunt up, but it sailed over the pitcher and fell in for a hit. Patterson singled to load the bases, and Ramirez drove in Tanous and Oquendo with a hit. Frometa reloaded the bases with a walk, and Serce smacked a two-run single. Gabe Pena Rodriguez then pinch-hit for Caffrey, and he singled to score Frometa, expanding AIC's lead to 29-19.
Once again, Assumption roared right back into the game. Chris Klein led off with a home run, and then two singles and a double brought in a run. After a strikeout, an error and a fielder's choice each plated a run. A double by Smith brought Barry to the plate, and AIC elected to intentionally walk him, but that brought Klein back to the dish and he belted another home run, this one a grand slam, bringing Assumption within a 29-27 margin. AIC went to its closer, Anderson Cuello Batista, and he drew a groundout to end the inning.
In the ninth, Cole Patterson smashed a home run to right, expanding AIC's cushion. Ramirez then reached on an error, Frometa was hit by a pitch, and Serce walked. This loaded the bases and brought Cuello Batista to the dish; the pitcher had to hit, as Oquendo had moved into left field from the DH spot. In his first NCAA at-bat, the junior hit a soft bouncer to short and beat the throw, driving in Ramirez for his first hit and RBI.
He then returned to the mound in the ninth and shut the Greyhounds down, working around a one-out double to finish out the game and earn the save.
Numerous records were tied or broken in the game. AIC's previous high-water mark for runs in a game was 27, set in 1977 against Nichols when Richard Bedard was the team's head coach, and tied in 1994 against Quinnipiac in an NE10 contest.
Additionally, the 58 runs scored combined between the teams set an NE10 record and tied the NCAA Division II record set in a 30-28 contest between Puerto Rico-Bayamon and Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras on May 8, 2009, while the 52 runs driven in broke the combined total of 51 between Colorado State University-Pueblo and Colorado Christian University on April 11, 2009.
The teams also tied the NCAA DII record for combined hits with 52, matching the total in a game between the University of Southern Indiana and Saint Joseph's College of Indiana on April 24, 1993.
The teams compiled 99 total bases, just the second time in NCAA Division II history that the mark had been reached; the CSU-Pueblo vs Colorado Christian game featured 120 total bases. Finally, the 13 combined home runs were fifth-most in a game in NCAA Division II history.
After the marathon four-hour, 36-minute long event, the teams still had another contest to play. This one featured far less offense.
Oquendo was responsible for half of AIC's scoring in the game, with an RBI single in the third and the sixth, both times driving Tanous home. Serce also hit a solo shot in the fourth, while Guevara doubled to right to bring Ramirez home in the fifth.
The real story was Serce and his dominance on the mound. He mowed through the Assumption lineup, striking out the side in the second and not allowing a runner at all between the third and the sixth frame. In the seventh, Assumption did manage back-to-back hits to put men at the corners, but Serce recovered, drawing a popout before two straight called strike threes ended the game.
The lefty's complete-game four hit shutout came on just 99 pitches; he allowed no walks and struck out 10, his highest punchout total in an AIC uniform and one shy of his NCAA high of 11 when he was at Alfred State University in 2021.
AIC will continue its road trip with a pair at Franklin Pierce University on Saturday, April 26. The first pitch of the doubleheader is slated for noon.
