Baseball Falls To Transylvania, 4-1

Transylvania University (3-1 overall) stopped the Suffolk University Baseball team (2-2-1 overall) with a 4-1 victory on Monday afternoon in Winter Haven, Florida.

Senior Taylor Bugh (Louisville, Ky.) allowed four hits and one run over seven innings of work fanning eight, while sophomore Shelby Dixon (Louisville, Ky.) and senior Danny Niehaus (Villa Hills, Ky.) pitched the final two frames for the Pioneers first win of their spring trip.

Juniors Mitch Monke (Springfield, Ohio) and Chris Stanley (Orange County, Calif.) were the only two Suffolk players to collect hits on the day as every ball the Rams hit seemed to field a Pioneers' defender.

The Rams got on the board in the second inning as junior Jhonneris Mendez (Boston, Mass.) led the inning off with a hit by pitch. After stealing second, Mendez scampered over to third base as the throw bounced into the outfield. Stanley knocked in the Rams's lone run of the ball game with a groundout to second with the infield back to plate Mendez.

Freshman Nick Edwards (Richmond, Ky.) scored the Pioneers' first run of the game as he led the inning off with a single. After being bunted over, Edwards advanced to third on a balk and then came around to score on a wild pitch.

The Rams had a golden opportunity to get something going in the fifth inning after Stanley singled to start and then Monke doubled off the center field wall to give Suffolk runners in scoring position with nobody out. Junior Mike Cunningham (Syosset, N.Y.) struck out in a pinch-hit appearance, before sophomore Mac Jacobson (Norfolk, Mass.) ground back to the mound and freshman Frank Tierney (Hyde Park, Mass.) fanned to end the threat.

Transylvania took advantage of the momentum as they scored a pair of runs in the home half of the fifth. Senior Ken Riley (Lexington, Ky.) drove in a pair of runs with a single back up the middle with two out for the 3-1 lead.

Sophomore Sam Liggett (Ft. Thomas, Ky.) gave the Pioneers' some insurance with an RBI single in the seventh with the final run of the game.

Freshman Josh Desai (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was the tough luck loser on the mound for the Rams in his collegiate debut. Desai allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings of work but hit three batters and threw two wild pitches. Freshman Eli Libby (Sudbury, Mass.) pitched 3 1/3 innings in relief only allowing one run while striking out a pair.

Suffolk will be idle on Tuesday afternoon before they matchup with Becker College on Wednesday at 2:00pm.


Transylvania 4, Suffolk 1 (03-12-12 at Winter Haven, Fl)
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Suffolk............. 010 000 000  -  1  4  1
Transylvania........ 001 020 10X  -  4  8  2      (3-4)
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Pitchers: Suffolk - Josh Desai; Eli Libby(5) and . Transylvania - Bugh; Dixon(8); Niehaus(9)
and .
Win-Bugh  Save-Niehaus  Loss-Josh Desai  T-2:10  A-0
Weather: Partly Cloudy