Ephs Split Doubleheader Against Hamilton

WILLIAMSTOWN, MA- With the game tied at 6-6, Ryan Young got his hands around on a fastball, taking it down the leftfield line as Billy Shea raced home from second, crossing the plate with the go-ahead run in what would be the winning run as the Ephs took down Hamilton 8-6.
 
The Ephs' bats got hot in the 3^rd inning, scoring six runs to grab a commanding 6-0 lead. In the first at-bat of the inning, Young connected for a double. Jakob Cohn, back in the lineup for the Ephs, singled up the middle, allowing Young to score and take an early 1-0 lead.
 
Eric Pappas quickly got on base with a single to right field and both him and Cohn advanced bases on a wild pitch. Danny Lynch then walked to load the bases. With runners in scoring position and only one out, a Hamilton error allowed two more runs to score.
 
Williams kept the inning going when Shea drove the ball into right field for a double, sending Henry Juan and Lynch home. Finally, Matthew Brown connected for an RBI single, putting the Ephs up 6-0.
 
Hamilton returned the favor in the 4^th starting with a double from Brady Slinger who stole third and reached home on an error. Jackson Johns knocked a ball into left field for a 2 RBI single that put Hamilton 3 behind Williams, making it 6-3.
 
Hamilton continued to fight in 5^th and took advantage of a couple of walks to get on base. With runners on the corners, Slinger took off from first on the pitch. As Juan rifled the ball across the diamond to second, Ethan Harrast raced towards home, beating the throw back from Pappas and making it 6-4.
 
Slinger was able to get home on an Eph error and put Hamilton within one. The tying run came just two batters later when Johns poked one into shallow left field for an RBI making the game 6 all.
 
The Ephs quickly responded in the bottom of the inning beginning with Billy Shea reaching first after taking a pitch to the arm. Shaking it off, Shea moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Tyler Spiezio who narrowly missed beating the throw to first.
 
With Shea on second, Young smoked the ball down the left field line for a double that brought in Shea to retake a 7-6 lead. Giove then poked the ball into left field for a single and moved Young to third. With Cohn at the plate and only one out, Giove stole second before Cohn was intentionally walked to load the bases.
 
With one out still, Pappas stepped into the batter's box and drove a fly ball into deep right field for a sacrifice fly that sent Young home, giving the Ephs the 8-6 lead.
 
With James Murray replacing Eric Gage in the 5^th inning, he kept Hamilton scoreless and finally struck out Johns, putting the ball low and away to end the ballgame, giving the Ephs the 8-6 win over Hamilton.


 
Taking a short break and returning for the second game of the afternoon, Hamilton broke it open in the first inning with a Greg Kopp double that scored two and put Hamilton up 2-0. Kopp eventually was able to reach home on a passed ball to make the score 3-0.
 
Williams responded in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single from Lynch that scored Pappas to reduce the lead to 3-1 in favor of Hamilton.
 
The Ephs added another run in the second with an RBI single from Young that sent Juan home.
 
Williams finally tied the game in the third when Driscroll grounded out to third with bases loaded, allowing Pappas to reach home with the tying run to make it 3-3.
 
However, the Ephs got into trouble in the fourth inning. With two outs, it looked like Sean Hogan would end the inning, before Hamilton found a groove, poking balls into the outfield to bring in runs. A costly error didn't help the Ephs either and Hamilton was able to score 9 before Max Hart was able to record the final out on a strikeout.
 
Down 12-3, the Ephs tried to chip away at the lead, scoring in the 7^th and 8^th innings with a Pappas sacrifice fly and a Discroll RBI single, but failed to recover from the damage of the 4^th inning while Hamilton added two more in the 9^th for a final of 14-9.


 
The 4^th inning was the story of the day for Williams in what was the difference in the game. After the doubleheader Williams' record improves to 8-14 after defeating a now 14-13 Hamilton in the first game.
 
Williams will take on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute this Tuesday at 4 pm here in Williamstown.