Mitchell opens with win

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 today'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.”