Mariners Sweep Doubleheader

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (March 27, 2011) - Merchant Marine was able to take the first two games of the three game series behind two strong pitching efforts from starters Andy Martin in game one and Dustin Thomsen in game two. Both right-handers went six plus innings while holding the Rangers to just two runs on the afternoon.

Game 1 - Box Score
Merchant Marine (7-5, 3-2 Landmark) scored in all but two of the seven innings of play. Martin, who improved to 3-0 as a starter, went all seven innings and allowed only two Ranger hits on the afternoon. Drew starting pitcher Tom Koontz (Allentown, N.J./Allentown) suffered his second loss of the year after allowing five earned runs on seven hits.

The Mariner offense was ignited by a pair of three-hit efforts, one by their lead-off hitter John Hubach who went 3-for-5 with an RBI and the other by Warren Hartman who was 3-for-3 with two RBi. The only two hits from the Rangers came from Michael Bodden (Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) and freshman Benny Lyman (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central).

Game 2 - Box Score
Drew (5-11, 0-5 Landmark) had better luck on the offensive end in game two but it would be their defense that would keep them out of the ball game. The Rangers committed a season-high six errors behind Ranger starting pitcher Evan Martens (Avon, Conn./Avon) who was charged with only two earned runs.

The Mariners jumped out to the early 1-0 lead when they took advantage of a two-out error in which Andrew MacKinnon was able to score from second base. Merchant Marine put two more runs on the scoreboard in the top half of the third on an RBI single and sacrifice fly to left to make the score 3-0. The Rangers responded in the bottom half of the frame when Bodden doubled in Chris DelMaestro (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) who came all the way around from first to make the score 3-1. After advancing to third on a Tom Murray (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial), Bodden scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Lyman to get the Rangers within one.

Thomsen would buckle down over the next three innings allowing only one hit and stranding three runners. Chris O'Donnell would come on to pitch a scoreless seventh inning to help Thomsen earn his second victory of the spring. The Mariners scored seven more runs in the next two innings at the plate to close out the Rangers.

Today's game was played at the CSI Baseball Complex located on the campus of The College of Staten Island. The conclusion of the three-game series will be played on Tuesday on Doc Young Field, weather permitting. A time has yet to be determined, check DrewRangers.com for the latest details.