VERO BEACH, FL – The Bay College Norse Baseball Team (1-3) were unable to come out on top in the second day of action of their spring break trip, dropping a close one to the St. Cloud Technical and Community College Cyclones (3-4) by a final of 5-4. The Norse offense struggled in the second game, only coming up with one hit, and lost 9-1 to Penn State Mont Alto (2-3).
The Norse got in a back-and-forth battle with the Cyclones, a team who qualified for the NJCAA Division 3 World Series a year ago. Bay struck first as they took advantage of two one-out walks and scored both those runners on a booming double to centerfield off the bat of Zach Gibson (SO, Nassau, Bahamas). Gibson scored on a two-out single from Cameron Street (SO, Newmarket, ON) giving the Norse a three-run lead before St. Cloud stepped to the plate.
The Cyclones responded in the third. Devan Meran (SO, Miami, FL) singled to score a run and Reece Berberich (SO, Thompson, ND) tripled to drive in two more, tying the game at three.
The Norse put together a threat immediately in the top of the fourth. A walk and a lead off double put runners on second and third. With the infield drawn in, Logan Peterson (SO, Marquette, MI) blooped a perfectly-placed single into short right, putting Bay ahead 4-3. The Norse stranded two on in the inning.
Bay was not able to work around a leadoff walk in the fifth, as the Cyclones got a sacrifice fly to tie the game once again.
Bay had trouble putting anything together in the sixth and seventh, and a leadoff single and stolen base for St. Cloud put them in position. With the runner on third and one out, Danny Sanchez (SO, North Miami, FL) singled to center to earn a walk off win for the Cyclones.
George Cooper (SO, Skenners Head, Australia) took the loss in his first start of the season. He gave up seven hits, five runs, walked two, and struck out five in six and one-third innings.
St. Cloud Tech used three different pitchers. Meran was two for four in the contest.
Penn State Mont Alto took advantage of some early struggles from Bay. Three walks, an error, and four hits for Mont Alto in the first two innings put Bay in a 5-0 hole after two innings of play.
It was all Mont Alto needed as Carter Fogal (FR, Chambersburg, PA) was brilliant on the mound. He went the distance, striking out nine, walking four, and giving up just one hit.
The Norse got their lone run in the bottom of the third when Bill Hosegood (SO, Radisson, SK) hit a sharp line drive to right for a leadoff base hit. He scored with two outs on a defensive miscue, but it was the only threat Bay could come up with.
Mont Alto added runs late to put the game out of reach, and took a 9-1 victory.
Shane Lievsay (FR, Prescott Valley, AZ) took the loss. He did settle in after a rocky first two innings. He went five ant two-thirds and gave up eight hits, five earned runs, walked four, and struck out four. Thijs Rijpstra (SO, Dongen, Netherlands) finished the game in relief.
Brady Bigler (SR, Saint Thomas, PA) and James Sibert (JR, Strasburg, VA) had three hits in the game for Mont Alto. Garrett Worth (FR, Sabillasville, MD) finished two for four with a double, homerun, and three RBI.
The Norse ran into a little bit of bad luck on Monday. The scheduled game with Penn State New Kensington was delayed due to lightning, and a miscommunication on the schedule resulted in the Norse being ready to play with no one available. Unfortunately the game will not be made up.
Bay will continue their trip with a game on Wednesday evening as they will take on Penn State Greater Allegheny at 7 pm. The game will take place in historic Holman Stadium which was built in 1953. At that time the area later known as "Dodgertown" served as the spring training home of the Brooklyn, then Los Angeles Dodgers until 2008. In 2019 Major League Baseball took over the propertu, rebranding it as The Jackie Robinson Training Complex featuring multiple baseball and softball fields and serves as a training facility for many sports at varying levels of play.