Written by Calvin DeLude
NEW BRITAIN – After snapping Vermont’s 11-game win streak last night, the Bees found themselves in another pitchers duel on Tuesday, dropping it 2-0 in 10 innings to settle for the split of the two-game set.
It was a hot 91 degrees with overcast skies when Bees ace Garret Garbinski (UConn/Clinton, CT) took the mound. He came into the game with a 0.89 ERA and saw it drop after tossing 5.2 scoreless innings. Opposite Garbinski was Vermont’s Chase Burrows, who pitched 5 scoreless. Both pitchers got the job done in the first and second inning, allowing two hits each and leaving all baserunners stranded.
New Britain flashed the leather in the third and fourth innings. Amato Civitello (UConn/East Haven, CT) made a fantastic running throw to first base for the opening out of the third. Jace Dunn (Elon University/Eden, NC), who made his home debut for the Bees, made a diving play and flipped the ball to Garbinski for the out to open the fourth.
The bats stayed quiet for both teams in the fifth with Garbinski notching his first strikeout of the game, retiring three of four batters he faced. Burrows finished his day with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half.
Alex Casey (Union College/Woburn, MA) came out of the bullpen in the sixth inning to relieve Garbinski and forced a groundout to close the half-inning and strand a runner on seconds, preserving a scoreless night for the UConn right hander.
New Britain made noise in the seventh, eighth, and ninth but couldn’t capitalize with runners on base. Vermont reliever Brandon Rovinelli allowed the first two batters aboard in the seventh, but an unfortunately placed Michael Olender (Lehigh/Flemington, NJ) groundout down the third base line allowed the Lake Monsters to turn a double play, and force a groundout the following at bat. Olender was also making his home debut and lined a single in his first at bat.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Bees loaded the bases with two outs. Dunn shot one right back to Rovinelli on the mound who flipped it to first to close the inning. In the ninth Dylan Swarts (Union College/Chester, NJ) and Danny Rogers (Salve Regina University/New Canaan, CT) both singled but couldn’t cross home plate, forcing extra innings.
Vermont finally broke the goose egg in the top of the tenth, after New Britain made a throwing error which scored the ghost runner, and allowed a sacrifice fly. The Bees couldn’t score in the bottom of the tenth, closing out a disappointing 2-0 loss.
New Britain falls to 0-2 in extra inning games and now finds themselves seven games out of first place. They get a much needed day off tomorrow, before hosting the Nashua Silver Knights on Thursday night.