Baseball sweeps #4 Northampton

VINELAND - After a uncharacteristic week, Dukes Baseball looked to return to form against a familiar foe in Northampton CC.  The Spartans entered the Region XIX series ranked 4th in the NJCAA National Poll and the Dukes looking to prove that they are still the perennial contender that they have been known as over the past decade.

In Game 1 of the series, the Dukes jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning and never relinquished the upper hand.  Offensively, the Dukes score in every inning except the 7th en route to a mercy-rule 21-5 victory.  Tyler Bunting and Kory Jenkins paced the Dukes offense, each notching 5 hits with Bunting driving in 6 runs and Jenkins driving in 5.  Bunting set the tone for the Dukes as he deposited a light tower blast on a 3-0 count to establish the Dukes in the series.  Dmitri Santiago (2-0) would earn the win for the Dukes.

Game 2 was more of what Region XIX has come to expect when the Spartans and Dukes meet.  Cumberland jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a Tyler Schoppe 2-run home run that hooked around the right field foul pole.  The Spartans would answer with 2 runs in the top of the 3rd inning.  The Dukes would take the lead for good in the 5th inning via RBI singles from Ty Powell and Kory Jenkins.  The Spartans would threaten in the 7th as starter Austin Wokock gave way to Tyler Histing.  Histing would come in and shut the door for the Dukes to earn a 4-3 victory.  Wokock would earn his 5th victory of the season striking out 7 and scattering 7 hits in 6.1 innings.

In the final game of the series, the Dukes started out hot as they took advantage of back to back walks that put Ty Powell and Cole Shover on base to start the game.  Tyler Bunting would single in Powell and Kory Jenkins would deliver a sacrifice fly to score Shover to give the Dukes a 2-0 lead that they would not relinquish.  Jimmy Gallo would lead the Dukes offense going 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs and a run scored while Jenkins went 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored and Bunting went 2 for 3 with an RBI and 3 runs scored.  The big blow came in the 3rd inning as singles by Aidan Zeck and Ty Powell scored three runs and a bases loaded walk by Gallo drove the 4th run of the inning.  The Dukes would score three runs in the 4th and add single runs in the 5th and 6th innings to complete the scoring at 12.  Joey Kurtz got the start on the mound and struck out 6 batters, scattered 4 hits, and gave up zero runs in 6 innings to earn his 4th win of the season.