Ugarte, Marcelletti Take Over 10th Inning in AAC Win

Ugarte, Marcelletti Take Over 10th Inning in AAC Win

Team Stats

May 5, 2021

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – Reinhardt baseball exploded for five combined runs – on back-to-back swings – in the 10th inning against St. Andrews (N.C.) to advance in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Championship, 6-1.

It was the first time this year that the Eagles and Knights lined up on the diamond, and with the triumph, the hometown club is now 32-17 after the exciting victory.                                                 

"What a game," head coach Jonathan Burton said. "These guys battled and, man, did their pitcher do a great job tonight against us. We struggled to get the big hit tonight until the 10th inning arrived, but we kept battling. Postseason baseball is fun, intense and difficult, but that's what makes competing worth it… Finish the game, finish the inning and rely on the TEAM to help us achieve the result we all want.

"Tomorrow is another opportunity for us, and we will need to be better than we were today to have that desired result."

Andres Ugarte opened the scoring with a homer, his first of the year, in the top of the fourth for a 1-0 advantage. St. Andrews was able to scratch across its opening tally on a single in the sixth, but the score would remain tied until extra frames.

Ugarte would then then step up again with a big with a ringing 2-RBI double down the left-field line for a 3-1 lead. On the next pitch, Gianmarco Marcelletti hit a 3-run blast to put an exclamation point on the inning.

Davis O'Brien (two earned runs) got the loss for the Knights, but threw 9.1 innings while striking out eight. Charles Tortorici gave up four runs after just 0.2 of a frame.

Daniel Dolensky threw a gem with 7.1 innings and nine strikeouts in a no-decision. Chandler Gant finished the contest and got the win after four strikeouts in 2.2 stanzas.

Individually, Ugarte went 3-for-5 with a trio of RBIs, while the squad also stole a combined eight bases in the win.

Reinhardt hits the field again tomorrow in the quarterfinals against Bryan (Tenn.) at 4 p.m.

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