Alex Taylor allowed one earned run in five innings of relief to lead Drew University to a 7-3 win over Hamilton College in a non-conference game at Pat Thomas Stadium in Leesburg, Fla., on March 17.
Taylor scattered five hits, walked three batters and fanned one. Matthew Kaplon smashed a home run to right field and Chris Roll went 3-for-5. Steve Kowalski singled twice and Tom Murray singled twice and drove in two runs.
Sam Fuentes ‘13 paced Hamilton with three hits and two runs batted in. Sam Choate ’12 singled twice and scored a run, and Gabe Klein ’13 singled and scored a run. John Wulf ’12 hit an RBI single, and Alex Pachella ’15 and Lukas Bridenbeck ’13 both singled.
Drew (6-4 overall) jumped on top early with a run in the top of the first inning. After a Hamilton error and a balk, Murray’s sacrifice fly to center field scored Steven Debonis.
Hamilton (2-6) tied the score with a run in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, Glenn de Marrais ’15 walked and advanced to third on a throwing error by the pitcher. One batter later, Wulf singled home de Marrais to tie the score at 1-1.
Drew responded with a run in the top of the third inning to regain the lead. Michael Bodden singled to lead off the inning and later scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Kaplon. The Rangers stretched their lead to 4-1 with two runs in the top of the fifth. Debonis reached on an error to start the inning and Murray followed with a single. Pete Tuchol singled home Debonis and Murray scored later on an error.
The Continentals got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Klein worked a leadoff walk and later scored on a single by Fuentes to make it 4-2. The Rangers added a run in each of the final three innings. Choate singled in the bottom of the ninth and scored on a groundout by Fuentes, but Hamilton was unable to get any closer.
