The Hamilton College baseball team swept a non-conference doubleheader from Alfred State College on Thursday, winning 8-2 and 9-1. The Continentals are 5-1 on their season-opening Florida trip.
Game one box score | Game two box score
Hamilton had 21 hits in the sweep, with Joe Jensen ’15 and brothers Chris ’17 and Kenny Collins ’17 collecting five each. Jensen scored five runs and he and Kenny Collins stole three bases apiece. Chris Collins drove in four runs.
Spencer Vogelbach ’18 and Andrew Haser ’17 both earned their first collegiate wins as the Continentals held the Pioneers to 12 hits and three earned runs.
Chris Collins got the offensive fireworks started in the first inning of game one with an RBI single. He came around to score on the first of Alfred State’s three errors.
Haser, who was the designated hitter in the opener, doubled in a pair of runs in the fourth and Kenny Collins closed out the scoring with a run-scoring double in the seventh.
In his collegiate debut, Vogelbach came within an out of a complete-game six-hitter. He struck out 11 – the highest single-game total by a Continental in five years – and issued only one walk. Ben Goffin ’15 struck out Alfred State’s final batter to seal the win.
Hamilton broke open a 2-1 game in the nightcap with a six-run outburst in the fifth inning. A bases-loaded triple by Chris Collins highlighted the rally.
An RBI single by Jensen and a run-scoring groundout by Griffin Small ’17 put the Continentals up 2-0 in the third. The two combined to produce Hamilton’s final run; Small followed Jensen’s leadoff triple in the sixth with a sacrifice fly.
Haser, who’s batting .333 with a team-leading 13 runs batted in, made his first appearance of the year on the mound and allowed four hits and one run to pick up the win. He fanned four Pioneers.
Finlay O’Hara ’17 and Andrew Jaffoni ’15 combined for three innings of one-hit relief, retiring the last nine batters.
Cullen Franz ’17 and Nicholas Padley ’16 both had three hits for Alfred State (0-9 overall). Padley doubled twice.
The Continentals, who are averaging 9.5 runs per game to start the season, stole nine bases Wednesday. They’ve been successful on 22 of 23 attempts this spring.
Hamilton is idle on Friday and takes the field again on Saturday, March 21, at 4 p.m. against Wisconsin-Oshkosh at Lake Myrtle Field in Auburndale, Fla.
