Baseball Drop Pair to Martin Luther College During First Day at RussMatt

AUBURNDALE, Fla. – It was a tough start to the MCLA Baseball team's spring break trip to the RussMatt Tournament. In both games today, the Trailblazers had a three-run lead in the late innings but saw the leads slip away. Josh Bologh knocked a pair of home runs in the first game while Matt Damon had two hits and an RBI in the second.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Friday, March 8, 2024
• Game #1: Martin Luther 12, MCLA 7, eight innings
• Game #2: MCLA 6, Martin Luther 7
• Records: Martin Luther College Knights 3-8 (UMAC 0-0) | MCLA Trailblazers 2-2 (MASCAC 0-0)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Game #1
  • In the first game of the afternoon, the Knights took multiple leads but saw the Trailblazers respond with matching rallies each time.
  • In the second inning, MLC scored a run on a wild pitch, but MCLA scored a run on a walk, an error, and a sacrifice fly from Michael Wormworth, which scored Rob Correia.
  • Two innings later, the Knights put up a two-spot behind two hits and a sacrifice fly and then saw the lead evaporate thanks to a double from Correia and a two-run home run to left field by Josh Bologh.
  • In the sixth inning, the Trailblazers got their first lead of the afternoon when Bologh went yard for the second time, this one a solo shot to left field. Wormworth followed that with a walk to drive the MLC starter from the game. Wormworth then stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch in the dirt. Edison Galan then brought him home with a single to right. After Galan stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Matt Damon. A pass ball then allowed Galan to come around and put the Trailblazers up 6-3.
  • The Knights were then the respondents, putting up a three-piece of their own. After two quick outs, the next three batters all singled, scoring the first run. A double from Parker Winghart two batters later evened the score at seven apiece.
  • In extra innings, Martin Luther exploded for a crooked number, scoring six runs on seven hits in the eighth, while MCLA was only able to plate one.
  • Correia went six innings and scattered five hits in the no-decision, while Josh Bissaillon was saddled with the loss to fall to 0-1 for the Trailblazers. The Knights Connor Heckendorf got the win to move to 1-0.
• Game #2
  • The pattern of score and answer from game one repeated in game two. Only this time, with MLC being the home team, it was score in the bottom of the inning and see MCLA respond in the top of the next.
  • The Knights scored theirs in the top of the first when leadoff hitter Spencer Lilienthal started the inning with a triple to the left-centerfield gap and then scored on a wild pitch.
  • In the top of the second, Ty Mazzeo hit a one-out single to left and then stole second base. Two batters later, he came around to score on Brady Hamel's single to left.
  • In the fourth inning, Martin Luther strung four hits together to score a pair. In the top of the fifth, history repeated itself, and the lead again evaporated. Brady Hamel started the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a sac bunt from Wormuth and third on a wild pitch.  Two batters later, Matt Damon let Hamel complete the circuit with an RBI single to left. Damon then came around to score when the Knights' catcher attempted to back-pick him at first and instead airmailed the ball down the right field line, and Damon came all the way around from first with the game-tying run.
  • The Trailblazers again got their first lead of the game in the sixth inning. Chris Vargas started the inning with a single through the left side and moved to second two batters later when Ty Mazzeo walked and gave way to pinch runner TJ Platt. Platt then scored from second when Aiden Brett's grounder to short was thrown over the first baseman's head. Jacob Morren took Brett's place at first, and Hamel then walked to load the bases, forcing MCL to call in the bullpen. Instead of steadying things, though, the bullpen threw gas on the fire, allowing Mazzeo to scamper home on a wild pitch. Wormuth then capped the rally with a sacrifice fly to score Morren.
  • You can excuse MCLA if they felt a bit of déjà vu after the Knights took the lead in the bottom of the inning, scoring three runs on three hits and making the Trailblazers pay dearly for a pair of errors.
  • MLC's Caleb Heckendorf picked up his first win of the season, moving to 1-0, and his brother Connor Heckendorf got his first save of the year. For the Trailblazers, Jayden Palumbo took the loss, falling to 0-1 on the year.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Bologh's homers in the first game equaled his career total coming into the game. He had homered last season in MCLA's 14-9 loss at Fitchburg State on April 27th and as a freshman against Wentworth on March 11, 2022. Bologh's three RBI also tied his career high, which he had set last season against Westfield State.
• The Trailblazer continued to show patience at the plate, working 10 walks between the two games, following their 16-walk performance in their doubleheader with Yeshiva last month.

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when they continue their participation in the RussMatt Tournament with a doubleheader against Maine-Farmington. It will be a non-conference matchup with the Beavers at the Historic Sanford Stadium in Sanford, FL. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.