Brandon Ward
Knox College
Brandon Ward shut the door in the ninth for his third save.
6
Framingham State FRAM 1-8
7
Winner Knox KNOX 6-3
Framingham State FRAM
1-8
6
Final
7
Knox KNOX
6-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Framingham State FRAM 0 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 11 2
Knox KNOX 1 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 X 7 7 0

W: Halseth, Jacob (2-1) L: Montero, Alexander (0-1) S: Ward, Brandon (3)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Bullpen, Garrett Carry Knox to 7-6 Victory

Andrew Garrett had three hits and a three-run double, while the bullpen provided four no-hit scoreless innings

AUBURNDALE, Fla. — Sophomore Andrew Garrett hit a game-tying three-run double in the fourth to provide the big blow in a five-run fourth, and four Knox College relievers twirled four no-hit, scoreless innings to squeak past Framingham State on Thursday afternoon at Lake Myrtle Park, 7-6. Garrett finished the game 3-for-5 with a run and three RBIs for the Prairie Fire (6-3), while the Rams fell to 1-8 on the season.

Trailing 5-2 entering the bottom of the fourth, Knox loaded the bases with one out thanks to a pair of hit batters — two of six in the game for the Fire — and a walk before Garrett ripped a shot into the right-center alley, clearing the bases. After a wild pitch put him 90 feet away from the plate, first-year Hayden Derlein beat out an infield hit to put Knox on top, 6-5. Following a pitching change, Derlein advanced to second on an infield grounder, sophomore Nicholas Nitti walked and Cooper Rice came through with a clutch, two-out single between first and second to plate Derlein with the seventh Prairie Fire run.

Framingham State got one of those runs back in the fifth on a two-out double and an RBI single, but first-year starter Jacob Halseth got the final out with the lead intact at 7-6.

From there, the bullpen took over. Sophomore Ayden Fayta had a perfect sixth inning with a strikeout in his first appearance of the season, and sophomore Will Vines followed with a pair of punchouts to help work around a leadoff walk in the seventh.

Junior Ethan Rompala-Matthews took the mound for the eighth, and the left-hander got into trouble by issuing a leadoff walk and hitting two batters with one down. But he made the pitches when he needed to, inducing an infield pop and a fly to center to keep the Rams off the board.

Senior Brandon Ward then retired the side in order with two strikeouts of his own to earn his third save. Halseth (2-1) earned the win, allowing six runs, all earned, on 11 hits but no walks while fanning two.

Next up for Knox on its spring break trip is a showdown with Hamilton College (5-2) at Northeast Regional Park in Davenport, Florida, at 4:15 p.m. (EDT). Fans who would like to watch online can purchase a subscription to BeTheBeast.com; links are provided for each game in Florida on the Knox baseball schedule at PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox Athletics.

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