Ouimet's Homer Rallies Drury Past Pittsfield
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Down by four runs heading into the top of the seventh inning, the Drury baseball team got a big boost from sophomore Ryan Ouimet, who crushed a three-run home run to spark the Blue Devils to a come-from-behind 11-10 win over Pittsfield on Thursday.Drury (12-6) scored five times in the seventh thanks to Ouimet's homer and four errors by the Generals. Pittsfield's miscues ruined a six-RBI day by Chris Robitaille and made an improbable winner out of Blue Devils starter Max Quinn, who gave up 10 runs overall, only five of which were earned. Quinn struck out three batters and walked three more through six and two-third innings to improve his season record to 4-1.
"It was a nice come-from-behind win against a tough PHS team," Drury head coach Al Marceau said. "They certainly played a lot better than in our first contest. Max did an outstanding job of staying in the game, even after we played horrible defense in the second inning. He struggled on the mound but kept us in the game and gave us a chance to come back at the end."
A tough second inning for Quinn and the Devils allowed the Generals to score five runs and take a 6-2 lead. Drury cut the lead to 8-6 by scoring three runs in the top of the fifth inning, but Pittsfield came right back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth. The Devils' offense kept plugging away, however, thanks to great performances from juniors Joel Giorgi and Robert Jutras and sophomore Cody Primmer. Giorgi went 2 for 4 with five RBI, while Primmer went 2 for 3 with a run batted in and three runs scored.
"Offensively, Joel and Ryan were our heroes for the day," Marceau said. "Ryan just put together a real nice at bat, especially after just missing a homer in the fifth. Both he and Joel were able to rack up RBIs because Robert and Cody were on base all day. Combined, they reached base seven times and scored five runs. It was a good team win, but we need to button up things to get where we want to go."
Scott Blanchette took the loss for Pittsfield, pitching all the way into seventh inning before he gave way to reliever Caleb Roach. Senior Tyler Benoit (2 for 4 at the plate) helped Quinn lock up the win by recording the final two outs of the game to earn the save.
Robitaille ended up going 3 for 3 with a two-run homer in the fourth.
Drury is back in action again on Friday, when it plays at Monument Mountain at 4:30 p.m.