Colby College's Clint Flippo hit a three-run homer and Nicholas Thompson pitched six effective innings in the Mules' 6-4 win against the Hamilton College Continentals in the 2022 NESCAC Baseball Championship at Trinity College's DiBenedetto Stadium on Friday afternoon.
 
Hamilton (18-16 overall) drops to the losers bracket where they will play Amherst College on Saturday, May 14 at 10:30 a.m. Amherst lost 14-8 against Middlebury College on Friday night. The Continentals, who are the No. 2 seed from the NESCAC West Division, were playing Colby for the first time since March 2015.
 
The Mules (24-11) scored three runs in the third inning and three more in the fourth. Colby, which is the No. 2 seed from the NESCAC East Division, takes on Middlebury in the winners bracket on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Mules are in the postseason for the first time.
 
Shane Dux '24 paced the Hamilton offense with two hits including a double. Dux is 8-for-15 so far in the postseason. Ethan Harrast '23 singled and walked twice. Jamie Hauswirth '22, Preston Perez '22 and Jack Clougherty '23 combined to pitch 4.2 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief. Gavin Schaefer-Hood '22 (5-3) started on the mound and took the loss after he pitched 3.1 innings.
 
Things started out well for the Continentals as Phil Bernstein '23 led off the top of the first by going the other way and lofting a fly ball over the left fielder's head for a double. Bernstein stole third and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Brady Slinger '22.
 
In the second inning Dux led off with a double over the center fielder and went to third on a flyout. He was stranded there after the next two batters grounded out and struck out.
 
Flippo put Colby in the lead for good with his three-run blast in the third inning. The Mules added three more runs in the fourth for a 6-1 advantage. Patrick McConnell hit a two-run double and Cole Palmeri drove in Colby's last run with a two-out single up the middle.
 
Hamilton chipped away at the Mules' lead over the last five innings. In the sixth Harrast walked and Jack Herlihy '22 drew another free pass with two outs. Dux drove in Harrast with a single to left and Jackson Sattinger '24 followed with a base hit to center that plated Herlihy. Sattinger and Slinger lead the Continentals with 31 runs batted in apiece.
 
Hamilton let a great chance to make up more ground slip away in the seventh. The Continentals loaded the bases with two outs on an infield error and two walks, but the next batter was retired on a fly ball to left. Hamilton left nine runners on base for the game.
 
The Continentals got back another run in the eighth. Sattinger drew a one-out walk and went to second on a passed ball. Greg Kopp '25 cracked a two-out single down the left field line and drove in Sattinger as Hamilton trailed 6-4.
 
The ninth inning started off with promise as Harrast led off with a single through the right side. The Continentals' comeback hopes were dashed after a double play and then a ground ball to the shortstop for the final out. Julian Erro got the last four outs and picked up the save.