MIDDLESEX COLLEGE BASEBALL WINS THREE OF FIRST FOUR IN MYRTLE BEACH

Middlesex College has gotten off to a solid start on their annual trip to Myrtle Beach to compete in the Ripken Experience.

The Colts have won three of their first four games, topping Garrett College, Finger Lakes CC and Clark State College while also dropping a 6-1 decision to Nassau CC.

Overall, Middlesex College baseball is off to a 6-4 start this season.

Against Garrett (2-6), Middlesex turned to Nick Diaz who turned in another solid performance. Diaz pitched the first five innings and allowed just one earned run while striking out nine in a 10-2 win. Diaz has an incredible 29 strikeouts in 15 innings in the early going this season.

Middlesex banged out 12 hits against Garrett with Michael Wansaw (Freshman/Elizabeth, NJ) leading the way with a 3-4 effort. Connor Luckie (Sophomore/Hamilton, NJ), Jordan Brown (Sophomore/Piscataway, NJ) and Nicholas Loniewski (Sophomore/South Plainfield, NJ) had two hits apiece and Kiefer Goss (Sophomore/Hamilton, NJ) drove in two runs.

Against Finger Lakes, Middlesex found themselves down 1-0 through five, but rallied for four runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh on the way to a 6-1 win.

Ryan Pozo (Sophomore/Fords, NJ) gave up a run on a double and three walks in the second, but bucked down after that. The righty didn't allow a run past the second inning and finished with eight strikeouts in a complete game win.

Down 1-0 in the top of the sixth, Giovanni Aresta (Sophomore/Old Bridge, NJ) led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch and Luckie and Loniewski followed with singles to load the bases.

Middlesex took advantage of some miscues by Finger Lakes and was also buoyed by an RBI fielder's choice by Wansaw. Middlesex added two insurance runs in the seventh on an RBI single by Luckie and a fielder's choice by Loniewski.

Luckie was 3-3 with a run and RBI to lead the way offensively for Middlesex.

Although the Colts had to come from behind against Finger Lakes, Middlesex was in the driver's seat the entire game in an 11-1 win over Clark State.

Wansaw toed the rubber for the Colts and allowed just one hit and one run in a five-inning complete game. The freshman lefty struck out seven in five innings to pick up his first collegiate win.

The Colts offense was consistent throughout the contest, tallying at least one run in each of the five innings played.

In addition to his success on the mound, Wansaw went 2-4 with two runs. Luckie was 2-2 with a double, two runs and two RBIs. Brown went 2-3 with two runs and an RBI.

As they have been all season, Middlesex was aggressive on the basepaths, stealing seven bases in the game. Middlesex has stolen 40 bases in ten games, the highest total in the country for any NJCAA Division III team that has played ten games or less. They're batting .337 as a team, the ninth-best average in the country among NJCAA Division III teams.     

Middlesex has two games remaining in Myrtle Beach. They are set to take on the Community College of Rhode Island Tuesday at 3:30PM and North Central Missouri College at 9:00AM on Wednesday before returning home.