The Chestnut Hill College Baseball team opened their season on Friday with a split of their two-game series against the University of Bridgeport. The games were being played as part of the Northeast Challenge held at the Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
After a late inning comeback fell short in game one which saw the Griffins fall 13-11, the Griffins salvaged a split with a 4-3 walkoff win in game two.
Andrew Dietz (Warrington, Pa.) belted a two-run home run in the first inning following a
John Contoudis (Jenkintown, Pa.) RBI single.
Connor Evans (Hermitage, Pa.) had three of the Griffins nine hits while
Zach Ahmed (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Contoudis had two apiece.
Thomas Hughes (Phoenixville, Pa.) earned the win pitching a complete game, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out five.
The Griffins jumped out to an early 3-0 lead as Contoudis singled home Ahmed who doubled to lead off the inning and Dietz followed with a two-run home run.
Hughes held Bridgeport scoreless until the Purple Knights struck for three runs (two unearned) in their final at-bat in the seventh, leading up to Chestnut Hill's walk off heroics.
Ahmed singled and
Sam Barletta (Royersford, Pa.) walked with Ahmed later moving to third on a wild pitch and Barletta stealing second with one out. Dietz was intentionally walked to load the bases and two batters later and now with two outs,
Corbin Dunnick (Mohnton, Pa.) reached on an error by the Bridgeport third baseman allowing Ahmed to score with the winning run.
In the opener, the Griffins led 5-2 before the Chestnut Hill bullpen faltered and allowed the Purple Knights to come back and take a 12-5 lead headed into the eighth inning. In the eighth
Greg Sylvester (Trevose, Pa.) hit a one-out solo home run to make the score 12-6 before Bridgeport got the run back in the bottom half of the inning.
Chestnut Hill began to comeback in their final at-bat as
Ian Labrador (Miami, Fla.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning followed by a Barletta single and a Contoudis double to score Labrador. Barletta scored on a wild pitch and
Patrick Meenan (Oreland, Pa.) singled to score Contoudis. Dunnick doubled to score Meenan and Sylvester reached on an error to score Meenan, pulling the Griffins within two with just one out.
Matthew Wirz came on to pitch for Bridgeport and retired the next two Griffins to end the game and earn the save for Stephen Giambra who relieved UB starter Justin Nyarady in the sixth inning.
Will Shaffer (Sicklerville, N.J.) took the loss for the Griffins in relief of Dietz, who threw five innings of two-run ball, striking out six.
Contoudis (3 hits), Dunnick (2) and Barletta(2) all had multiple hit games in the opener. Meenan and Sylvester had two RBI apiece.
The Chestnut Hill baseball team returns to action on Saturday, February 26, 2022 with a game against the University of New Haven in myrtle Beach, South Carolina
