CALDWELL, N.J.- The North #2 Caldwell University baseball team fell short to North #3 Dominican College 15-13 in 10 innings as the Semifinals of the 2021 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Baseball Championship.
 
The Cougars end their season at 15-15 overall, while the Chargers improve to 18-13 and advance to Saturday's championship final.
 
The teams combined for 14 runs over the first three innings as senior Tavis Brunson (Westfield, N.J.) had a run scoring single in the first inning. Graduate Dhillon Barbetti (West Long Branch, N.J.) drove in two runs with a triple in the second inning for the Cougars. Junior Kyle Richards (Sayreville, N.J.) added a sacrifice fly in the third as Caldwell trailed 10-4 after three innings.
 
The Cougars closed the gap with three runs in the fifth inning. Junior Jalen March (Baltimore, Md.) singled in the first run of the inning, while graduate Jack Zosulis (East Windsor, N.J.) added a run scoring single. Freshman Noah Putney (Glassboro, N.J.) drove in a run to cut the score to 10-7.
 
Dominican added a run in the sixth to push ahead 11-7. Caldwell battled back with a four-run sixth inning. Zosulis drove in two runs with a single, while Putney tied the game at 11 with a two-run double.
 
The game remained tied to force extra innings. The Chargers took the lead with four runs in the top of the tenth to push ahead 15-11. Caldwell got a rally started in their half of the inning as junior Frank Lehmann (Colonia, N.J.) doubled in a run. Brunson added a run scoring single to cut the score to 15-13 the Cougars rally fell short.
 
Graduate Luis Rullan (Bloomfield, N.J.) went 3-for-6 in the game with two runs scored, while Brunson finished 4-for-6 with two RBI and two runs scored. Putney went 3-for-5 with three RBI, while Zosulis went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Barbetti went 2-for-5 with two RBI and one run scored.  
 
Senior John Istvan (Dover, N.J.) tossed four relief innings, allowing three runs on three hits with four strikeouts. Senior Michael Hess (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) pitches three scoreless innings, allowing one hit with six strikeouts. Graduate Tom Disch (Branchburg, N.Y.) took the loss, allowing four runs on three hits.