NORWICH — After two days off, the Mystic Schooners baseball team returned to action Tuesday afternoon at Dodd Stadium hosting Coastal Division rival Ocean State. And once again thanks to a big fifth inning, the Schooners came from behind to defeat the Waves by a score of 4-2.   

Ocean State opened up the scoring in the Top of the 2nd when Alex Ramirez blooped a single into right field, scoring Chase Meggers and Blaine Lidsky. 

As the trend has been this season, Mystic would not let those two unearned runs go unanswered. Tristan McAlister (Mt. St. Mary’s University) and Addison Kopack (University of Rhode Island) began the home half of the third inning with back-to-back singles. Then McAlister would attempt to steal third before heading home on a fielding error by Creek Robertson to cut the deficit to 2-1. 

Tucker Flint (University of North Carolina Greensboro) began the bottom of the fourth with a triple down the first base line off of Waves starting pitcher Nick Payero, giving Jimmy Chatfield (Yale University) an opportunity to bring in the tying run. And Chatfield did just that as he singled into right centerfield, scoring Flint. 

Then four batters and two stolen bases later, Chatfield came around to give Mystic the lead at 3-2 on an RBI single from McAlister. The Schooners would add an insurance run in the sixth inning on a fielder’s choice to give them a two run lead at 4-2. 

George Washington RHP Connor Harris was steller out of the bullpen for the Schooners. Harris, who relieved Mystic starter Josh O’Neil in the fifth inning, earned the win after throwing three scoreless 1-2-3 innings of relief while striking out four. 

Ocean State threatened in the top of the ninth but Yale LHP Reid Easterly got Alex Ramirez to pop up to second baseman Ray Sass (Brown University) for the final out.  

Mystic will now search for its third straight win Wednesday when they travel to North Shore.  

GAME NOTES:

• Both Kopack and McAlister continued their hit streaks to five games. Kopack is now hitting .350 during the span while McAlister is hitting .348. 

• Flint went 2-for-3 on the afternoon, with an extra base hit and a run scored. 

• Harris earned his first win of the NECBL with his scoreless outing. 

• O’Neil (Stony Brook University) made his Schooners debut on the mound, going four innings while allowing three hits and just two runs on three strikeouts. 

• Through the first five games of the season, Mystic’s pitching staff ranks 3rd in the NECBL in runs allowed (18) behind Vermont (10) and Keene (17).

UP NEXT: Mystic will travel to North Shore tomorrow, June 15, at 11:00 a.m. at Fraser Field. The game will be streamed on the NECBL Broadcast Network, with live stats and streaming information available on schoonersbaseball.com. 

Keep up with the Mystic Schooners baseball team through social media by following on Twitter (@mysticschooners), Instagram (@mysticbaseball, TikTok (@schoonersbaseball), and  `liking' on Facebook (/MysticBaseball).