Building up a 9-4 lead entering the seventh inning, the Benedictine Cadets held off a furious late rally by the Collegiate Cougars to pull out a 9-7 victory at home.
The game on Wednesday, April 13 saw the Cadets (8-3) record nine hits and eight RBIs to build that five-run lead, with Jorden Olivera leading the way with two hits and three RBIs on four at-bats.
On the mound, pitcher Derrell Fletcher-Knight led the Cadets with a stellar effort in his five innings pitched, tossing out four strikeouts while allowing 11 hits. While the Cougars had success hitting, it resulted in only a few runs early on while the Cadets ran up the score with a terrific offensive showing.
The Cougars built an early 2-1 lead entering the top of the second inning, but three quick outs paved the way for a great second inning on offense for the Cadets, with a Wil Moore hitting a line drive double to right field that scored in Dalton Rocke. Moore then scored after a dropped third strike allowed him to reach home base.
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Later in the third, Olivera’s double on a grounder to right field scored another Cadet in to make it 4-2. In the fourth, Moore once again stepped up to the plat and delivered with another line drive double that sent Samuel Saunders home to make it 5-2. Moore again scored once he reached base by earning a run off an Ethan Loucks ground out.
That momentum transitioned into their performance on the defense, with Fletcher-Knight striking out a batter to start on a 2-2 count, and then seeing two consecutive ground outs leave Collegiate empty-handed.
Collegiate made things interesting with a strong two-run sixth inning to make it 6-4, but Benedictine responded well to create a five-run lead after another Olivera double and a Daniel Lingle single adding three runs to the team’s total. Olivera’s hit was a grounder toward left field that sent the defense into a frenzy while Lingle and Collin Clarkson scored to bring it to 9-4.
While the Cougars made things interesting with three consecutive runs on three at-bats at the top of the seventh, the Cadets caught two pop outs and earned the game-ending third out from pitcher Jagen Ratlief to give them a hard-fought victory.
The Cadets play again on Friday, April 22 as they travel to Atlantic Shores for another league matchup.
