Baseball Sweeps King's College at RussMatt Invitational

WINTER HAVEN, Fla.—The Anna Maria College baseball team improved to 3-3 overall with two wins against King's College (Pa.) on Friday morning at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

Anna Maria 2, King's 1

In game one, freshman Liam Pickett (Oxford, Mass.) crushed a single to score classmate Trevor Brown (Gardner, Mass.) from second base in what would prove to be the game-winning RBI. Pickett's hit was one of seven total tallied by the AMCATS—sophomore Corey McNair (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and senior Corey Andrade (Mashpee, Mass.) led the team with two hits each.

The AMCATS took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, as McNair singled, stole second, and scored on an RBI single by senior David Julian (Sterling, Mass.).

Anna Maria held the one-run advantage until the bottom of the fourth, when Kings put together back-to-back singles to score Ryan Civello. The game remained tied until Pickett's RBI single in the top of the sixth inning.

Junior Matthew Leahey (Rutland, Mass.) earned the win on the mound, sacrificing seven hits and four walks while fanning six in six innings of action. Freshman Tanner Jakola (Leominster, Mass.) entered in the seventh inning with the game-tying run on first base. He made quick work of the three batters he faced to earn the save.

King's pitcher Mike Kreiger went the distance and took the loss, sacrificing seven hits, two runs and four walks while striking out six.

Anna Maria 8, King's 2                              

The AMCATS exploded for 12 hits in game two as Anna Maria downed King's 8-2. Freshman Nate Gray (Kingston, N.Y.), classmate Nate Frederick (Worcester, Mass.), and Julian finished with three hits apiece, while Julian batted in a game-high four runs.

Anna Maria started scoring in the bottom of the second, as Kilycoyne scored on a single by Gray, followed by a three-RBI double by Julian that scored Nate Frederick, Gray, and Camden Frederick (Worcester, Mass.) for a 4-0 lead.

King's responded with one run in the top of the third, but Anna Maria added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth for a 7-1 lead. Nate Frederick, Julian, and Andrade all posted RBI singles.

The AMCATS would add one more run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Nate Frederick that scored Kilcoyne before King's scored their final run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Nick Trivigino.

Anna Maria sophomore pitcher Andrew Sawyer (Dracut, Mass.) went the distance to earn the win, sacrificing nine hits, two earned runs and three walks while striking out one.

John Wickiser took the loss for King's, giving up 12 hits, eight earned runs and six walks. He also tallied seven strikeouts.

Anna Maria will be back in action tomorrow for a doubleheader against Curry in the final day of action at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The Colonels and the AMCATS will meet at Chain of Lakes Field #4 at 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.