Spartan Baseball in Fort Myers
Mar 17, 2014 | J.Crane
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - The University of Dubuque Baseball team traded in cloudy 30 degree weather in Dubuque for the sunshine and 80 degree temperatures in Ft. Myers beginning on March 15th. The Spartans will play seven games against fellow Division-III schools over the course of six days. UD begins the trip on March 16th against Bethel University (Minn) and wrap up the trip on March 21st against UMass-Boston. Dubuque went 1-3 with trips to Fulton, Mo. and Jacksonville, Ill. before the trip to Florida.
| Score by Innings | -- Game 1 -- | R | H | E | |||||||
| Bethel (4-1) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 12 | 14 | 2 |
| Spartans (1-4) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| WIN: T.Heitma (2-0) LOSS: J.Eastman (0-2) | |||||||||||
| BOX SCORE | |||||||||||
The Spartans opened the trip with a matchup against an experienced Bethel University team that qualified for the MIAC Tournament in 2013, advancing to the semifinals. UD fell behind early allowing three runs in the first, three in the third inning, and five runs in the fourth. Senior Steve Ryan (Loveland, Colo./Mountain View) led the Spartans at the plate with two singles, two stolen bases, and a run scored.
UD scored its only run of the game in the bottom of the second on a double steal with Ryan and Vince Parisi (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) creating the scoring opportunity. Ryan led off the inning with a single up the middle before advancing to second on a groundout. A failed pickoff attempt moved Ryan to third and Parisi walked to setup the first-and-third situation with two outs.
William Fogel (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) went 2-3 with a stolen base in his second start of the season. Josh Eastman (Edgerton, Wis./Edgerton) took the loss pitching 3 2/3 innings while allowing 13 hits, seven earned runs (11 runs total), and striking out three.
| Score by Innings | -- Game 2 -- | R | H | E | |||||||
| Spartans (1-5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| Bethel (5-1) | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | X | - | 11 | 14 | 3 |
| WIN: S.Glenn (1-0) LOSS: A.Kopp (1-1) | |||||||||||
| BOX SCORE | |||||||||||
The Spartans once again found themselves facing a large deficit after giving up one run in the first and seven in the third as Bethel led 8-0 after three innings. Six different Spartans had hits in the game with Parisi recording the only extra base hit with a RBI double in the fifth that scored Michael Riordan (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central). Bethel answered with four runs of their own in the fifth to take an 11-1 lead after five complete.
Needing a rally, UD answered with two runs in the sixth and seventh to build momentum for the remainder of the trip. The sixth began with a walk by Ryan and single by Ryan Moritz (Forest Park, Ill./St. Joseph) put runners on first and third with one out. With the infield back, Austin Monfross (Big Timber, Mont./Sweet Grass) drove in Ryan on a fielders choice. A wild pitch advanced Monfross to second before Jacob Evans (Normal, Ill./Normal West) singled up the middle for his first collegiate RBI.
The UD seventh inning featured two runs, on two hits, two errors, and two runners left on base. Daniel Porteous (Twin Lakes, Wis./Wilmot) started the scoring with a bases loaded single that scored John Henderson (Arlington, Texas/Sam Houston). The Spartans scored again after a throwing error by the Bethel catcher allowed Gaetano Florio (Youngtown, Ariz./Willow Canyon) to cross the plate. Florio reached base on his first college hit.
Alan Kopp (Verona, Wis./Verona) took the loss on the mound. Kopp pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing five earned runs (six total) on six hits and four walks.
| Score by Innings | R | H | E | ||||||||||
| S. Vermont (5-4) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| Spartans (2-5) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | X | - | 6 | 12 | 1 |
| WIN: J.Naval (1-0) LOSS: D.Marfy (0-1) | |||||||||||||
| BOX SCORE | |||||||||||||
The Spartans returned to action on Monday morning against Southern Vermont College of the New England Collegiate Conference. Parisi had a stellar day at the plate going 4-4. Daniel Casanova (Lake Tapps, Wash./Auburn Riverside) reached base in three of his five plate appearances scoring two runs and driving in two more. Casanova also hit his team leading third triple and stole his sixth base of the young season.
After a scoreless first inning, each team scored in the second. UD scored after Dalton Garst (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) led off the inning with a walk, advanced to second on a Parisi single and scored on a Florio single. SVC scored again in the third to take a 2-1 lead, a lead they would hold onto until the bottom of the seventh. Casanova came up with a big play on defense cutting down a runner trying to score from second on a single to centerfield off relief pitcher Justin Naval (Oak Lawn, Ill./Richards).
Following his stellar defensive play, Casanova led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and stole second base. A Fogel walk and sac bunt by Ryan put the tying run on third base and go-ahead run on second for the Spartans. A wild pitch tied the game at 2-2. With the go-ahead run now on third, Michael Salazar (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain) put down a safety squeeze that scored Fogel and gave UD a 3-2 advantage.
Naval would hold SVC scoreless in the eighth and ninth to earn the victory in relief. UD tacked on three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth with two runs scoring on the triple by Casanova and another on a triple by Florio that scored Casanova.
Harley Miller (Oak Lawn, Ill./Richards) took the no-decision throwing 6 2/3 innings and striking out seven. He allowed one earned run (two total) on six hits. High School teammate Naval earned his first collegiate win working 2 1/3 innings.
UP NEXT: The Spartans continue their play in the Gene Cusic Classic against UW-Platteville (1-5) on Tuesday, March 18th at 9:00 am CTZ.
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