CASTLETON, Vt. – Senior
Caleb Miller became the Union College baseball team's all-time leader in hits and RBIs on Wednesday, breaking both records with one swing of the bat on his second hit of the first inning in an 18-17 victory over VTSU Castleton at the Spartan Baseball Field. Miller went 3-6 with three runs scored, and sophomore
Michael Del notched the go-ahead base knock in the ninth to cap off a three-run comeback for the Garnet Chargers.
During an 11-run first inning for Union (17-18), Miller recorded the 175th and 176th hits of his career. His record-breaking 176th hit drove in first-year Jack McKillop, giving Union an 8-0 lead over Castleton (12-26). Along with Miller, seniors Cooper Ames and Andrew Keaveney and sophomore Dylan Swarts all reached base multiple times in the first inning. Ames drove home three runs in the frame on a single and double, and Miller, Swarts, Ames, and McKillop all scored twice in the inning as Union went up 11-0.
Both teams scored in each half of the first two innings, but Union still led 13-5 after the second frame. Senior Jack Klein replaced first-year Lucas Miller on the mound in the third inning and shut down Castleton over the next three frames. Klein only allowed three base runners over his 13 batters faced and struck out six. It marked a single-game career-high in strikeouts for the senior reliever and his 10th scoreless relief appearance of the season.
However, as Klein was mowing down Castleton in the middle innings, the Union bats also went quiet. Once Klein left the game, Castleton started its comeback and scored 12 runs in its next three trips to the plate to take a 17-14 lead entering the ninth.
Union took advantage of two Castleton errors to start the final frame and began to mount a comeback of its own. Ames doubled home Swarts for the fourth RBI of Ames' day and the fourth run scored of Swarts'. Swarts had hit his team-leading sixth home run earlier in the game as well. First-year Dennis Mulhearn tied the game up with a two-RBI single, setting the table for Del's go-ahead base knock. Del brought in junior Ryan Kolodziejczyk to take the lead 18-17. Kolodziejczyk had drawn a pinch-hit walk earlier in the inning.
Swarts earned the win along with his 2-4 performance at the dish, getting the final five outs of the game along with four strikeouts. He is 2-1 on the season on the bump and also Union's hits, runs, RBIs, and total bases leader on the season.
After the win Wednesday, Caleb Miller is Union's all-time hits, runs, RBIs, and total bases leader. The 2024 Liberty League Player of the Year has solidified himself as one of the greatest hitters in Union's program history and can still set the program's home run record with four more round trippers. After hitting his 12th double of the season on Wednesday, Miller also is one double away from entering the program's single-season doubles top-10 leaderboard for the second time in his career.
Union now sets its focus on the Liberty League Crossover Series in which it will host St. Lawrence for a best-of-three series beginning Friday, May 1 at 4 p.m. on Buck Ewing "A" Diamond at Central Park. The winner of the three-game set will advance to the Liberty League postseason tournament.
