WATERBURY, Conn. - The Caldwell College baseball team pounded out 18 hits but could not overcome Post University in a 10-9 defeat in 10 innings at Municipal Stadium Tuesday afternoon. The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference loss drops the Cougars to 1-5 in league play and 5-11 overall, while the Eagles improve to 14-5, 5-1 CACC.
Caldwell fell behind early after Post put five runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. Corey Huffine and Tyler Wilschetz each had two-run hits in the inning. But the Cougars got back in the game in the top of the fourth with four runs to trail 5-4. Junior Doug Hilgenberg (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) had a two-run single, while senior Jorge Torres (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) and junior Josh Stedham (North Palm Beach, FL/Jensen Beach) also drove in runs. In the top of the fifth, Hilgenberg and Stedham put the Cougars ahead with RBI singles for a 6-5 lead. Junior Adric Saxon (Coral Springs, FL/Broward CC) singled home junior Omar Velazquez (Astoria, NY/Long Island City) in the sixth to extend the lead to 7-5.
Caldwell answered an Eagles' run in the sixth with an unearned run in the seventh, then made it 9-6 Cougars when Torres plated junior Ray Keelan (Barnegat, NJ/Southern Regional) in the eighth. Post got one run back in the eighth on a single by Travis Locascio. Then in the ninth, Wilschetz tied the score with a two-run single to send the game into extra innings. After the Cougars failed to score in the top of the 10th, Locascio hit a one-out double, then scored the game-winning run on an error.
Seven Cougars had at least two hits in the game, led by Keelan and Stedham, who each had three hits. Hilgenberg, pictured, drove in three runs for Caldwell. Wilschetz had two hits and four RBI for the Eagles. Tim McCarthy pitched the final five innings for Post to earn the win, while freshman A.J. Boardman (Sunnyside, NY/St. Francis Prep) took the loss after allowing just one hit and an unearned run in 1 1/3 innings.
The Cougars take on the College of St. Rose in a non-conference game on Wednesday, Apr. 1. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in Albany, N.Y.
