CMS Opens Play at Tucscon Invitational with Wins over Hamline, Carthage

TUCSON, Ariz. - Andrew Mazzone, Kieran Sidebotham and Slader Spoor hit home runs and Parker McGraw threw four shutout innings in his first start, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball team opened play at the Tucson Invitational with a 9-3 win over Hamline on Sunday morning, and followed with an 11-6 win over Carthage in the afternoon. 

The first two days of the tournament were canceled due to weather and field conditions, and the Stags were able to fit in two games on Sunday and two on Monday in their revised schedule. They also will play Crown and Macalester on Monday, after moving to 10-2 with the wins on Sunday (9-0 non-conference). 

CMS jumped out to an 8-0 lead over the first five innings against Hamline to take control. Dillon Martin started the scoring with an RBI single in the second, which was followed by a two-run single from Adam Dapkiewicz. Martin added his second RBI on a sacrifice fly in the third to make it 5-0 after the Stags scored on an error when Jack Potter stole second and the throw got away at second base, allowing Mazzone to score from third. 

Mazzone made it 6-0 with a solo homer in the top of the fifth, which was followed by a two-run shot from Sidebotham, which scored Bryce Didrickson. Spoor added his first collegiate home run in the seventh to answer back after the Pipers scored three in the fifth. 

McGraw allowed three hits and struck out six over his four innings of work in his first start after four dominant performances out of the bullpen to start the year (a combined 12.1 innings pitched with no runs, four hits and 12 strikeouts). He was never really threatened, as a double play wiped out one base-runner in the first, and Dapkiewicz threw out another trying to steal in the second.

McGraw struck out the side in the fourth around two walks, the second coming with two outs, but that was the only time that the Pipers were able to put a runner in scoring position as he improved to 16.1 innings of shutout baseball to start his career. 

Four Stags had multiple hit games, as Sidebotham and Spoor each went 2-for-3, Didrickson was 2-for-4 and Mazzone was 2-for-5. Henry Connell threw the final four innings of shutoiut relief, allowing three hits and striking out seven. 

In the Carthage contest, CMS fell into an early 4-0 hole, but took a 6-5 lead on a three-run shot from Mazzone in the fifth, his second round-tripped of the day's two games. Adam Dapkiewicz started the five-run fifth with an RBI single to close it to 5-2 and Tyler Shaw hit a sacrifice fly to close it to 5-3 before Mazzone cleared the bases. 

The Stags kept extending their lead in the ensuing innings, as Martin had an RBI double in the sixth and was plated on an RBI single from Blaise Heher. Didrickson had an RBI grounder in the seventh to make it 9-5, Shaw has an RBI single in the eighth to push the lead to 10-5, and Didrickson had a sacrifice fly in the ninth to close out the CMS scoring and make the score 11-5. 

The Stag bullpen did its part as it has all year, with Andrew Blackett throwing 2.1 shutout innings to get the win and get the Stahs through the sixth. Hamilton Finefrock worked a 1-2-3 seventh and Pieter van Wingerden threw a scoreless eighth before Carthage scored a harmless ninth inning run. Dapkiewicz and Sanders were each 3-for-5 with an RBI in the contest. 

CMS will be back in action tomorrow for the second day of the Tucson Invitational before returning to SCIAC play this weekend with a three-game series against Cal Lutheran, with a single game on Friday at Biola and a doubleheader at Cal Lutheran on Saturday.