Hobart Baseball Outslugs Old Westbury

The Hobart baseball team began spring break with a classic pitchers’ duel. Today, the Statesmen ended their stay at the Ripken Experience with a day for the hitters.

Hobart and Old Westbury combined for 29 runs, 24 hits, 14 stolen bases as the Statesmen outlasted the Panthers 16-13.

BASICS

• Hobart won its third straight and six of its last seven to improve to 7-3 on the season.
• Old Westbury slipped to 6-3.
• Junior Johnny Hill (1-0) pitched the eighth inning and got the win.
• Senior Nicholas Franceschi pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out the final two batters to earn his first save of the season.

RUNNING WILD

• Hobart was on base in every inning and pushed across runs in six of eight innings.
• For the second time on spring break, the Statesmen set a record for stolen bases in a game in the Brad Cook era.
• Hobart, led by junior Christian Petry’s game-high three swipes, finished with 12 stolen bases.
• The Statesmen had eight steals in Saturday’s Game 1 win over Colby-Sawyer.
• Petry reached base on five of his six plate appearances, finishing with two singles, a triple, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. He drove in three runs and scored three runs.
• First-year Jack Farnen also had a multi-hit game, singling twice, stealing a base and scoring a run.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Abridged edition)

• Hobart loaded the bases with no one out in the second inning and opened the scoring on first-year Jay Voica’s sacrifice fly. The Panters worked out of the jam, allowing just the one run.
• In the top of the third, Old Westbury took the lead with five runs. Mike Petrucelly delivered the big blow, launching a two-run homer over the rightfield wall.
• The Statesmen entered the bottom of the fourth trailing by three but went station to station to tie the game.
• The Panthers went back in front with three runs of their own in the fifth, but in the bottom of the inning, Hobart again rallied, this time reclaiming the lead.
• The Statesmen broke through for six runs, including a RBI double by senior Nate Johnson, a two-run triple by Petry, a RBI triple by sophomore Connor Schmiedlin and a RBI single by junior Will Jones in four consecutive at-bats.
• Hobart carried a 13-8 lead into the eighth inning, but Old Westbury had one more rally in its bag of tricks. RJ Azarieh’s two-run double made it a one-run game and then he scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.
• Sophomore Connor O’Neil led off the bottom of the eight with a single through the right side. He stole second and third and came home on a wild pitch.
• Hobart pushed across two insurance runs with two outs.
• With Petry on second and Johnson on third, the speedy duo executed a perfect double steal.
• Petry later came home on a fielding error.

PLAYER PERSPECTIVE
Postgame interview with Christian Petry: https://youtu.be/ayEYvlPbs3c?si=-XMOeEQOfil51f9k

GIVE ME LIBERTY

• Hobart will begin Liberty League play with a three-game series against RIT this weekend. The Statesmen are scheduled to visit the Tigers for a single game on Friday, March 21 followed by a doubleheader at McDonough Park on Saturday.

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