GOWANDA, N.Y. - The Hilbert Baseball team kicked off their 2021 season on Tuesday afternoon in a doubleheader against crosstown NCAA DII rival D'Youville College at Gowanda High School. The Hawks took game one 3-1 and fell in game two 4-1.

Game One

After a scoreless first from both sides, the Hawks were able to scratch across the first run of the game in the top of the second inning. James DiSanti led off the inning with a single to left field. Two batters later, Colton Davis reached on an error, which advanced DiSanti to third base before Jared Welnowski smacked a double to right field to drive him home.

The Saints tied it at one in the bottom of the third after Caden Strobel hit a double and later scored off a throwing error while attempting to steal third base.

Both teams were blanked over the next three frames as the pitchers on both sides showed strong command of the game, but the Hawks sticks came through in the seventh to regain the lead. Colton Davis got the offense started with a single up the middle. Jared Welnowski followed it up with a walk. Then with two outs, Misael Guzman Caez came up with a clutch RBI single to put the Hawks ahead 2-1. Hilbert would tack on another run in the inning off an error to head into the bottom half up 3-1. From there, Aydan Rolph slammed the door shut with help from a beautifully turned double play by Matt Kellner at second base. 

Misael Guzman Caez was strong in his Hilbert debut, tossing 4.1 innings without allowing a single earned run and added four strikeouts. Newcomer Aydan Rolph was equally as impressive, blanking the Saints over the final 2.2 innings to pickup the win in his Hawks debut.

Game Two

In the night cap of the doubleheader, the Saints were the first to strike in the bottom of the first. Caden Strobel led off with a walk, which Jeremy Glinski followed with a double. Two batters later, Alex Liem hit a sac fly to centerfield to score Strobel, giving the Saints an early 1-0 lead.

After a scoreless second, the Hawks got on the board with a two out RBI single from Jonathan Wilson to score Guzman Caez from third base. The Saints answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the third. Jeremy Glinski hit a one out triple to right and later scored off a fielders' choice.

The Saints blanked the Hawks over the final four frames and tacked on two more runs to come away with the 4-1 win. Michael Contini took the loss on the mound after tossing 3.2 innings, allowing a pair of earned runs. Zackory Panfil and Brendan Walsh had strong outings in relief, combining for five strikeouts over 2.1 innings of work. Alex Dzimian picked up the win for the Saints and Kyle Nash was credited with the save.

Hilbert (1-1) is back in action next Thursday, March 18th as they host Hiram College in a doubleheader beginning at 2pm. 

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