MIDDLESEX BASEBALL STARTS MYRTLE BEACH ROAD TRIP WITH TWO WINS

Middlesex College Baseball started their trip to Myrtle Beach by winning two of their first three games at The Ripken Experience. 

The Colts (8-4) topped Penn State-Fayette 14-3 and Spoon River College 14-4 before falling to Monroe CC 13-8.

Against Penn State-Fayette, Middlesex banged out 16 hits and used an 11-run second inning to put the game away early.

Giovanni Aresta (Freshman/Old Bridge, NJ) and Shayne Salvesen (Freshman/Old Bridge, NJ) each hit their first career home runs to spur the effort. 

Shortstop Jordan Brown (Freshman/Piscataway, NJ) went 4-4 with a double and two RBIs and Aresta was 3-4 with three RBIs and two runs. Christian Petrillo (Freshman/North Brunswick, NJ), Braden Ramirez (Freshman/Middlesex, NJ) and Salvesen all had multi-hit games as well. 

Thomas Nierdermaier (Freshman/Bordentown, NJ) pitched a complete game, striking out six without a walk over five innings to move to 2-0 on the season. 

The Colts took on Spoon River College in the second game of their trip and once again, their bats were working early.

Middlesex sent nine batters to the plate in the first and plated six runs on just two hits, taking advantage of two Spoon River errors, two hit by pitch and a walk in the frame. 

Ramirez logged the only multi-hit game for the Colts, going 2-4 with two runs, and an RBI. Freshman Ryan Pozo picked up his second win of the season by pitching three hitless innings. 

The Colts six-game winning streak was snapped the next day against a strong Monroe Community College team.

Monroe got to Middlesex starter Patrick Kannaley for six runs over the first two innings, but Middlesex answered with four runs in the bottom of the second. 

In the inning, the Colts batted around and werwe boosted by RBI singles from Ramirez and Aresta. However, Monroe got all four of the runs back in the top of the third and added three more in the fourth.

For Middlesex, Ramirez went 3-4 with an RBI and Aresta went 1-3 with an RBI. Aresta is batting .485 on the season and is tied with Petrillo for the team lead in hits with 16.

Payton James (Freshman/Rahway, NJ) was the only Middlesex pitcher able to keep Monroe off the scoreboard. He logged two scoreless innings in relief.

The Colts are back in action Monday when they take on Sullivan Community College as their trip to Myrtle Beach continues. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30PM.