HOUGHTON, NY—After dropping the first game to the Medaille Mavericks, the Houghton Highlanders trailed 8-2 in fifth inning of the second game.  But as the evening temperatures plummeted, the Highlander bats caught fire, torching eight hits (five for extra bases) and seven runs over their final two at bats to defeat the Mavericks, 9-8, and salvage a split.
 
Game One: Victor Cavalieri and John Kopicky gave up only three hits and did not allow an earned run, but six walks and five Highlander errors led to four Maverick runs.
 
Ryan Wojcinski silenced the Houghton bats for Medaille, allowing only three hits and one unearned run.
 
Houghton threatened on numerous occasions, but stranded nine runners.
 
Game Two
With the Highlanders trailing 8-2 in the fifth, David Wessells ripped a one-out triple into the right field corner and Nicholas Melchiore followed with an RBI single to left.
 
Taylor Huntsman and Tage Johnson hit deep back-to-back triples and Ethan Duryea followed with a pinch-hit double off the center field wall, cutting the Mavericks' lead to 8-6.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Wessells again sparked the Highlanders, beating out an infield single.  Melchiore then followed with a double to deep right and Huntsman hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Wessells.
 
With two outs and the Highlanders trailing by a run, Garret Kirkpatrick laced a single to center that brought home Melchiore and a Mavericks' error on the play allowed Johnson to score the go ahead run.
 
On the mound, Carl Holmes picked up the win for Houghton, pitching 3.2 scoreless innings.
 
Wessells, Melchiore and Huntsman knocked out three hits apiece for the Highlanders while Kirkpatrick added two more.
 
Coach's Corner
"Our guys never quit.  Even when they fall behind they know they can win.  They just believe in each other.
 
"I wouldn't necessarily say that we played well in either game, but our defense was much better in the second game and our bats got hot at the right time.
 
"One of the things I love about this team is that we have interchangeable parts.  We saw a number of guys step into some weighty situations and perform well.  I thought Carl [Holmes] pitched really well, Matt Weiner made some nice plays, Ethan [Duryea] had a huge pinch hit… there were just a lot of quality contributions." –Coach Brian Reitnour