MYRTLE BEACH, SC. – The University of Valley Forge Patriots Baseball Team (0-6) splits a 2 game series against the Dolphins of Staten Island (2-2).  

Game 1: Patriots 4, Dolphins 2
Game Summary – Battling back and forth with good pitching and defense by both sides, the game was all zeroes through the first three innings. Patriots missed out on an opportunity to drive Jeffery Espinal in who was left stranded on third. Bryan Reyes started the top of the fourth hot for the Patriots with a deep shot to center field for a triple, followed up with an RBI double to left field by Cody Rak. The Dolphins answered with a run of their own to tie the game up 1-1 heading into the fifth inning where they kept the Patriots from scoring and gain a 2-1 lead thanks to Nouvertne. Zach Nunnery placed himself in scoring position with a double to left field. Following, Marcus Fultz for the Patriots would take it a bit farther as he went yard in his first homerun in either the high school or college level.  Fultz's homerun moved the Patriots into a 3-2 lead. The Patriots defense made crucial stand with a 3 up-3 down in the bottom of the sixth. James Jackson started off the seventh inning with a single, advancing to second and taking third on a throwing error from the Dolphins catcher. Jackson's heads-up base-running led him to the plate from Cody Rak's sacrifice attempt to steal second.  UVF made the last inning interesting giving the Dolphins a man on first and second from hit batters. Shashwat Chitnis was called to come in and close the deal for the Patriots. A wild pitch would advance the Dolphins runners to second and third increasing the level of tension in the air. Chitnis turned up the heat as he forced a pop up and ground out to shortstop to give the Patriots their first win on the season! The Patriots combined for a season high 10 hits and committing 0 errors putting them in prime position to gain the victory.

Ryan Finch got his first start of his college career on the mound and pitched a strong 3 innings for UVF.  Finch was able to keep the Dolphin hitters off balance by changing speeds and hitting his locations.  Zach Nunnery came in on relief and continued to shutdown the Staten Island offense and Shashwat Chitnis entered the game in the 7th inning to shut the door and receive his first save of his college career.  

Game 2 – Patriots 7, Dolphins 11
Game Summary – The Patriots looked to hold off the Dolphins as they shut them down in the first match-up to only two earned runs on seven hits. The Dolphins started at the plate hot scoring five runs through the first four innings giving them a 5-1 lead. The Patriots maximized their opportunities at the plate in the fourth inning. Starting with a James Jackson double, Bryan Reyes singled to set Cody Rak up with two in scoring position. Rak earned his first dinger of the year as he sent one over the left fielder's head for a 3-run blast moving the Patriots into a 6-5 advantage entering the fifth inning where the Dolphins steady hitting continued. The Dolphins cruised to six earned runs to the Patriots one to close out the game.  

Head Coach Brian Algeo had this so say about the Patriots performance, "We played a complete game for the first time this year against a quality opponent. I couldn't be more proud of how this team came together and played together. We executed both on defense and offense. We feel like we let game 2 get away from us and know we still have work to do and we need to continue to get better."

Up Next – The Patriots Men's Baseball team will next face the Chatham University Cougars Wednesday March 5th at 6PM/8PM in a double header continuing their Ripken Experience.

Go Patriots!