Game 2: Bridgewater State 5, Elizabethtown 4

VERO BEACH, Fla. — Mark Minisce picked up the win, with Todd Leister getting the save in Elizabethtown's 4-2 victory in game one of a set with Bridgewater State fueled by Elizabethtown's prolific starting hitters. The Blue Jays were overcome in game two after surrendering back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning. The Bears defeated Elizabethown 5-4 Thursday afternoon at Holman Stadium.

Mark Minisce nearly went all the way in his season mound debut, pitching 6 1/3 innings for his first win of the season in the 4-2 win. Minisce allowed just two hits in the first five innings while the offense flourished with the bats to provide breathing room to work with on the mound.  

Leister game entered the game to close things out. Leister struck out Tory Buck looking for the save.

E-town (5-2) produced its biggest inning in the second. The Blue Jays scored two runs off of four hits to break open the scoring. Dillon Tagle set up the scoring with a lead off double. Pat Mulligan batted in Tagle from second base for the first of his two hits in the game. Freshman Alex Holbert roped in his team leading third RBI to double the lead. 

The Jays added to the scoreboard an inning later. Elizabethtown placed a runner in scoring positions once again to open the inning. Kyle Gable doubled to the gap in left center and moved up 90 feet on an errant pitch. Two outs later, Matt Reade's infield single was enough to allow Gable to safely cross home plate.

Blue Jays utilized small ball in the sixth inning to manufacture a ran. Mulligan was given a free pass to first to set up Tim Rosser's sacrifice bunt down the third base line. Holbert was immediately aggressive when reaching first base on a walk, stealing a base to set two in scoring position with Tyler Weary in the box. Weary shot a ball up the middle to drive in Mulligan. 

The Bears (4-3) tacked on two runs late, but couldn't rally enough hits to knock the Blue Jays out of their lead. Ian Williams singled in David Pierce in the bottom of the sixth and third baseman Craig Stewart started off the final inning with a home run to left field. 

Steve Motika, Gable and Mulligan reached on two hits, a double and an RBI each. The Blue and Gray batters were locked into Bridgewater pitcher Corey Batista. Eight-of-nine starting hitters dropped in at least one hit. 

Batista (1-1) surrendered 11 hits, 4 runs and two walks in the loss.

In the late afternoon game, Elizabethtown didn't skip a beat from their success in the box in game one. E-town took the 4-1 lead after two innings. Kyle Gable came around to score on Jim Barboni's wild pitch. Gable made the best of a walk, setting up the run after moving up on a steal and fielder's choice. In the third E-town tacked on three runs. Matt Reade scored on an error, Alex Holbert singled to the outfield to score Mulligan and Gable lifted a fly ball to left to score Jon Bacher on the sac-fly.

Bridgewater scored its second run of the game in the third inning to trail the Jays 4-2. Vaclav Hasik entered the game to try and sew up the issue. The Bears managed to load the bases after a walk and two hit batters. Keane Costa reached base on a fielder's choice with one-out to score Tory Buck. 

The fifth inning was shaping up to be a quick one for Elizabethtown. The defense turned a 5-4-3 double play to retire the first two batters. Then the Bear bats changed the complexion of the game. Catcher Keane Costa belted a homer to left field two pick up his second RBI of the game. The dust was just settling when the next batter Craig Stewart tagged a ball to left field for his second round-tripper of the day. The back-to-back home runs placed Bridgewater even 4-4 in the score, the first tie with E-town all day. 

The Bears took the lead the next inning. David Pierce doubled between the outfliders for the game-winning RBI with two outs retired. 

After dealing with some trouble in the early going, Balboni stuck it out to the end, eventually earning the win on his team's mid-game scoring rally. Balboni allowed just two hits after his team took the advantage in the score.

Kyle Wilt picks up the loss for the Blue Jays in his first appearance this season.

After picking up his first hit of the season yesterday, Bacher compiled two more today. Tyler Weary added two more hits, for three on the day. 

Elizabethtown returns home from the spring break trip with a 5-2 record. The Jays return to Kevin Scott Boyd Stadium Wednesday against non-conference opponent York.