CC 6, CHC 5 (11 inn.)
CHC 9, CC 4
NORRISTOWN, Pa. – The Caldwell College baseball team split with Chestnut Hill College, winning the first game 6-5 in 11 innings and losing Game 2, 9-4 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Latshaw-McCarthy Field. The Cougars are now 11-24 overall and 8-8 in league play, while the Griffins are 19-19, 5-11 CACC.

In the first game, Caldwell took a 3-1 lead after senior Joe Doerrer (Middletown, NJ/Raritan) and junior Adolfo Lopez (Ontario, CA/Ontario) drove in runs in the top of the third. Chestnut Hill tied the score at 3-3 with runs in the third and fourth innings. Then in the seventh, sophomore Steve Valenti (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) scored from third on a wild pitch with the bases loaded for a 4-3 lead. But a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth allowed Joe Mullen to come home with the tying run for Chestnut Hill, sending the game to extra innings.

After a scoreless 10th inning, the Cougars loaded the bases in the top of the 11th. With one out, an error on a grounder by senior Jorge Ynoa (Bayside, NY/Bayside) allowed sophomores Joe O'Donnell (Belleville, NJ/Belleville) and Paul Nyitray (Cranford, NJ/St. Joseph's) to come home for a 6-4 lead. The Griffins scored a run in the bottom of the 11th and had runners at second and third with two out. But senior right-hander Matt Cook (Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan) struck out the final batter to end the game.

Senior Craig Gourley (Point Pleasant Beach, NJ/Point Pleasant Beach) started and gave up four runs, two earned, on seven hits in a nine-inning effort. Lopez and O'Donnell had two hits apiece for Caldwell.

The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead with three runs in the top of the third. O'Donnell hit a two-out triple to score freshman Robert Humes (Berlin, NJ/Winslow Twp.). Freshman Jack Joyce (Bayside, NY/St. Mary's) singled home O'Donnell and later scored on a single by Doerrer. Chestnut Hill scored single runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings to tie the score at 3-3, then broke the game open with five runs in the bottom of the seventh for an 8-3 lead. After the Griffins scored another run in the eighth, Joyce plated sophomore Andrew Nunez (East Elmhurst, NY/Cardozo) with a single in the top of the ninth to make the score 9-4.

Sophomore Dan Bartlett (Levittown, NY/Island Trees) allowed three runs, one earned, on seven hits in six innings of work in a no-decision. Joyce and Nunez delivered two hits each.

Caldwell plays another CACC doubleheader on Tuesday, Apr. 24 at Post University. The first game starts at 12:00 p.m. in Waterbury, Conn.