Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
WENHAM, Mass. — Wesley Arning's (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) complete-game effort on the mound in game two helped the Fighting Scots split a doubleheader with non-conference opponent Southern Vermont. The Scots dropped the first game 10-6 before using a fifth-inning comeback to take the second game, 5-4.
 
Gordon inches closer to the single-season win record by improving to 14-12 on the season, while the Mountaineers move to 9-15 with the split.
 
The Mountaineers jumped on the board early, putting up the first run of the inning after RJ Pingitore created havoc on the base paths. Gordon starter Scott Hall (Weymouth, Mass.) retired the first two batters of the game, but a hit-by-pitch put the speedy Pingitore on first.
 
SVC's second baseman immediately stole second base uncontested and then tested the wits of freshman catcher Joe Olszak by going for third. Olszak fired the ball down to third base, but the ball cut away from the bag, allowing Pingitore to round the bases for the first run of the game.
 
Gordon answered in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI double by first baseman Travis Pullen (Las Vegas, Nev.), scoring Alonzo Martinez (El Paso, Texas) who had doubled on the previous at bat. However, the Scots quickly relinquished a lead back to the Mountaineers in the top of the second inning. Another error allowed a run to be escorted home for a 2-1 lead.
 
After Pingitore added a sacrifice fly in the third to make it 3-1, Gordon tied the game again in the bottom half. Pullen's suddenly hot bat came alive once again, with a liner down the left field line that stayed on the right side of the chalk. The Fighting Scots' power hitter slid all the way into third base with an RBI-triple—again plating Martinez. Mark Fitzgerald (Camarillo, Calif.) poked one through the left side as the next batter to bring home Pullen.
 
Gordon took its first lead of the game in the fourth when Alex Smith (Wethersfield, Conn.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to push Alex German (Brimfield, Ill.) home from third. Smith was safe on the play on an error by the Mountaineers' catcher, but Martinez and Pullen flied out to end the Scots' threat.
 
The joy of a lead was short-lived with the Mountaineers striking back in the top of the fifth. Christ Nicasto took advantage of a fielding error at second, which brought home Richard Rios all the way from second base. Nicasto later scored on a single to right field by Cody LaBadia.
 
All was calm until the final inning, with Gordon trailing by one run, 5-4. The Mountaineers broke open the game against reliever Matt Amore (Pequannock, N.J.), Gordon's leader in ERA heading into the contest. Amore struggled with his command, walking three batters and giving up two hits, which surrendered five runs in the top half of the seventh.
Hot-hitting Carlos Pichardo, (La Romana, D.R.) turned in another 3-for-4 game and hit his first goner of the year over the right field fence toward the pond. Pichardo's two-run bomb wasn't enough to bring the Scots back and they fell 10-6 in game one. Hall took the loss for the Scots, only his second of the year.
 
Game two had a few less fireworks, but followed a similar trend as the first. After Martinez tucked a RBI-double down the left field line to score Eric Walker (Danvers, Mass.), SVC responded with three runs in the top of the third. Nicasto was at the center of all three plays, singling home a runner and forcing a bad throw on a stolen base to score another. Nicasto scored again on a single up the middle from Pingitore to make it a 3-1 advantage for the Mountaineers.
 
Olszak helped get one back with a deep fly ball into foul territory on the left side, but Fitzgerald was able to tag up from third. Again the Mountaineers answered with another RBI-single by Nicasto for a 4-2 lead.
 
The Fighting Scots loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth with only one out and Fitzgerald coming to the plate. The junior hit a deep ball to centerfield to score Smith and move Martinez up from second. Pichardo became the hero just one batter later with a double to the gap in left-center, scoring Martinez and Pullen .
 
Arning held the Mountaineers to two quiet innings in the sixth and seventh to earn his team-leading sixth win of the season on the hill. The junior fanned six batters, while only allowing two earned runs on nine hits.
 
Gordon has a four-day break for the Easter holiday before returning home for another nine-inning affair with Lesley. The Fighting Scots beat the Lynx 14-5 last Monday at J Tec White Field.