Baseball Drops Doubleheader at Amherst

AMHERST, MASS. -- In its return to Little Three competition, the Williams College baseball team dropped both games in a doubleheader with Amherst College at Memorial Field in Amherst, Mass. on Saturday. The rival Mammoths won the first game, 4-0, and took the second, 5-1.
 
Amherst starting pitcher Nick Giattino flirted with a one-hitter in the opening contest. He gave up a single to Williams senior designated hitter Jeremy Irzyk in the first inning before nearly going the entire game without allowing another hit. Ephs senior shortstop Eric Pappas flied a double to deep right-center field with two outs in the seventh to finally break the hitless streak and force Giattino from the game. Relief pitcher Alan Dai secured the final out for the Mammoths.
 
In total, Giattino tossed 114 pitches, recorded nine strikeouts, and walked seven on the day. He yielded no runs and two hits to the Ephs and finished one out shy of a complete game. 
 
Williams starter Sean Hogan, a sophomore who earned wins in his first two appearances of the season, matched the strong performance of his opposite number through the first five innings. He also held Amherst to two hits, but the Mammoths managed two runs.
 
In the first, Hogan walked three and hit another batter, outfielder Joseph Palmo, to bring home the first run of the game for the Mammoths. He also struck out three in the frame.


Later, in the fifth, Hogan plunked Palmo again before Amherst second baseman Daniel Qin smacked a double deep over the head of the center fielder to drive in a second run. Qin also notched the only other hit of the day off Hogan, a single up the middle in the third inning.
 
With his team behind 2-0, senior right-hander Nehemiah Wilson appeared in relief for the Ephs in the sixth inning. Amherst added two insurance runs to double its lead during the frame. Shortstop Jackson Reydel hit a triple to the right-field fence, then beat the throw at the plate on a fielder's choice when utility player Michael Parales grounded to second base. Perales scored when Qin lined another double past center fielder to finish 3-4 on the day. The score ended 4-0, advantage to the Mammoths.

"Our offense, guys have been hitting the ball, [but] we didn't hit today," said head coach Bill Barrale. "It's hard to win games if we don't hit."
 
Amherst also struck first in the second game. With first-year left-hander Nick Skiera on the mound for the Ephs, Qin continued his hot hitting for the Mammoths with a double down the left-field line. He reached home on an RBI single by first baseman Luke Padian to take a 1-0 lead.

The Ephs finally got on the scoreboard in the third inning. Sophomore catcher Cole Whitehouse led off by stroking a ground-rule double over the short fence at Memorial Field. After junior right-fielder Tyler Spiezo bounced a high ground ball to second base and beat the throw at first to advance Whitehouse to third, Irzyk scored Whitehouse with an RBI groundout to tie the game at 1-1.

But Williams would not muster another run on the day, and Amherst would soon break the tie. In the fourth inning, Reydel drove a two-run double down the left-field line for the Mammoths to regain a 3-1 lead. Skiera had previously hit two batters in the frame, and senior relief pitcher Bryan Woolley came into the game afterwards for the Ephs.
 
Woolley, a NESCAC Pitcher of the Week who had only given up one hit in six innings of work on the season, could not hold back the Amherst lineup either, though. Qin and Padian singled in the fifth before left fielder Tyler Marshall laced a single of his own for the Mammoths to extend their lead to 4-1. Dai tripled and scored on a groundout in the next inning to bring the final tally to 5-1. 

While Williams mounted a rally with two outs in the seventh -- senior Philip Barnett walked, Whitehouse singled, and Spiezo walked -- Amherst starting pitcher Jacob Ribitzki accomplished what his teammate Giattino could not and closed out a complete game. With the bases loaded, he got Pappas, the Ephs leadoff hitter, to fly out to center field to end the contest. 

Ribitzki finished with six strikeouts over 100 pitches and seven innings of work. He allowed five hits, two walks, and one earned run.
 
"We had some harder outs in the second game," Barrale said. "We had bases loaded at the end of the game with our leadoff hitter up. So that's what you want there, it's a key situation, and he just flew out to center field."

Williams falls to 5-2 on the season, and Amherst improves to 6-2. The Ephs host the Mammoths on Sunday at 1:00 PM on Bobby Coombs Field for the third game of the series.