Gibbs pitches Mitchell College to win in NCAA Div. III baseball tourney opener
May 17—BABSON PARK, Mass. — By the eighth inning of a tight NCAA Division III regional baseball game, Mitchell was long overdue for a game-changing hit.
The Mariners had stranded 12 runners up to the point and stood deadlocked with Babson College on Friday at Govoni Field.
They finally came through in the clutch, as freshman Michael Ficocelli's two-out double drove in the go-ahead run and junior Chris Gibbs finished off a terrific complete game performance by retiring the side in order in the ninth for a 4-3 victory.
Ficocelli, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year, shook off the nerves and delivered the biggest RBI of his young career, scoring senior Robbie DelaCruz of Montville, who singled and reached second on a wild pick-off throw.
"I was just trying to make something happen and get it done," Ficocelli said. "It felt pretty good. I knew my teammates were going to do the job and I knew he was going to score once it dropped in.
"I felt like it was time."
For the second straight year, Mitchell (33-11) opened NCAA tournament play with a victory, setting up a winners' bracket game on Saturday at noon with No. 9 Salisbury (29-9), a 7-0 winner over UMass Dartmouth on Friday.
The Mariners never trailed thanks to Gibbs, who showed poise under pressure in his third career NCAA regional start. He scattered six hits, allowed just two earned runs while walking one and striking out seven.
"It seemed like after the first couple of innings we knew it was going to be a tight ball game all the way through," Mitchell coach Shawn Gilblair said. "Fortunately for us, we had Chris Gibbs on the mound.
"... You could see he was the same Chris Gibbs that we've seen all year long. He was fully composed, in control of his thoughts and in control of his emotions. That's why he was able to control the game."
With closer Cam Varney ready in the bullpen, Gilblair sent Gibbs back to the mound for the ninth with his pitch count at 114. Gibbs got three quick outs, retiring Jack Julian on a line drive to shortstop Angel Galindez to end the game.
"I still feel good," Gibbs said with a smile. "The adrenaline is definitely still going for me. Coach had full trust in me going out there for the ninth. He knew I could get the job done. I had full trust in myself as well. And I told him I really wanted it, so he let me go out there and get it."
Gibbs, who came into the game leading the team in wins (nine) and earned run average (3.30), pitched with the confidence of a veteran. He regularly got ahead in counts and kept Babson's best hitters off balance.
His toughest inning came in the fifth. Babson's first two batters reached via singles, went to second and third on a sacrifice bunt, and both scored a wild pitch to knot the score at 3-3.
The outburst didn't faze Gibbs.
"After the wild pitch, you've got to keep perspective," Gibbs said. "They really still haven't hit me hard all game, so just keep making my pitches and not let the little things affect me."
Offensively, Mitchell struggled to break out with a big inning despite finishing with 11 hits.
Junior Jack Hayes and senior Michael Gajda each had an RBI single in the first inning to put the Mariners ahead 2-0. But Mitchell left the bases loaded.
Missed opportunities continued to pile up, as the Mariners left 14 on base overall.
Leading 2-1, Mitchell left runners on second and third in the third. Senior Cole Lalli's RBI single increased the advantage to two in the fourth but the Mariners had runners thrown out at third and home plate.
"We shot ourselves in the foot with base running in one inning and I think we could have opened it up a little bit and found some breathing room there," Gilblair said. "Offensively, I feel like we pressed a little bit. We chased some pitches too much. ... Looking forward to (Saturday) and having a little bit better of an approach for our lineup."
Ficocelli led the attack with a single and two doubles while DelaCruz had a single, double, walked twice and scored two runs.
The Mariners will enter Saturday's winners' bracket game as a confident bunch. They'll have a rested pitching staff. Varney (4-1, 3.36), a senior with NCAA tournament experience, will start versus Salisbury.
"We know what we're getting with Salisbury," Gilblair said. "I think Cam Varney is ready for the challenge. I'm confident that he's going to go out there and give us an opportunity to win."
Mitchell will be looking to make another statement.
"Coming into this, we were definitely the underdogs," Gibbs said. "Getting that first one, teams are going to have to look out for us."
