Somerville bats come alive, Akins stymies Rutgers Prep in relief for 12-8 win

For the kind of game that was played Thursday afternoon in Somerset, a 12-8 Somerville win over Rutgers Prep, it would figure that the deciding factor may have just come down to a pitcher.

After the Argonauts (1-5) went ahead 7-6 in the fourth, the Pioneers (3-2) scored six straight runs over the next three innings – two apiece – and reliever Ty Akins limited Prep to just a single run on three hits over the last three innings of the ballgame to hang on for the win, in a game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The game was a back and forth affair early on. ‘Ville opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first, but the Argos came right back to tie it 2-2 in the bottom half. Somerville scored four times in the third, and Rutgers Prep evened it up in their at bat, 6-6.

But after Prep went ahead 7-6 in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by starting pitcher Zach Fronio – whose day was done after three innings – that was all they could must until their last whacks in the seventh. But by then, Somerville had added six runs to take a 12-7 lead.

Akins – who started the game at first, but was about to take the mound for the bottom of the fifth – knocked in two runs with a two-put single in the top of the inning. In the sixth, Andrew DeAngelis knocked in a run with a single, and a Chase Koplitz walk brought in a second run. Then in the seventh, Ed Duffy knocked in a run on a ground ball to short that was thrown out of play, while a DeAngelis ground ball to third scored Duffy.

All the while, Ty Akins – who in 2 and 2/3 innings coming into the game had a 7.88 ERA, allowing three earned runs – was locking down Rutgers Prep.

Akins allowed a leadoff single in the fourth, but got a strikeout, ground out and flyout to strand Cody Rullo. In the sixth, he gave up a two-out single to Andrew Parisi, but got Fronio to ground out to short to end the inning.

He only encountered some trouble in the seventh, allowing back-to-back one-out doubles to Cody Rullo and Joey Dwek – who knocked in Rullo – but both were more a function of fielder positioning than anything else. Akins stranded Dwek on second to end the ball game by getting a strikeout and a line out to short.

Dylan Hornick got the win in relief for Somerville in his first appearance of the season, while Peter Wheeler (0-1) took the loss in relief for Rutgers Prep.