Baseball Suffers First NECC Loss Of The Season
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elms (5-11, 3-2) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 1 |
| Becker (8-6, 5-1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 3 |
| @ Leicester, Mass. | Rochdale Park | ||||||||||||
| Pitching |
|---|
| Win: Leal (2-1) - Elms |
| Loss: Tony Cantalupo (0-2) - Becker |
| Elms Batting |
|---|
| 2B: Fisher; King; Shanley; Iavicoli |
| 3B: none |
| HR: none |
| Becker Batting |
|---|
| 2B: Tony D'Addio; Mike Smith |
| 3B: Todd Tompkins |
| HR: none |
Leicester, Mass. – The Blazers of Elms College pounded out 16 hits on their way to a 9-5 win over Becker College in New England Collegiate Conference Baseball action Sunday afternoon at Rochdale Park.
The Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Todd Tompkins (West Haven, Conn.) lined a triple into the right centerfield gap, scoring Joe Corey (Billerica, Mass.) from first. The Hawks increased their lead to 2-0 in the second inning. Tony D'Addio (West Haven, Conn.) led off the inning with a double down the leftfield line. After he advanced to third on a wild pitch, Austin Phillips (Thomson, Ga.) grounded out to second base, bringing D'Addio home from third.
The Blazers cut the Hawks lead in half in the top of the third when Steve Fisher (West Boylston, Mass.) drove an RBI double to right field, scoring Nico Iavicoli (Springfield, Mass.).
With two outs in the top of the fourth inning Elms tied the game at 2-2. Rey Rivera (San Juan, PR.) got things started with a single to centerfield. After Sean Shanley (Bristol, Conn.) doubled to left, Brady Forrest (Hampton, Mass.) delivered a single to left, Scoring Rivera from third.
The Blazers took the lead in the fifth inning when they put three runs on the board, chasing Becker starter Tony Cantalupo (DePere, Wisc.) from the game. Zach Dreher (Naugatuck, Conn.) led off the inning with a single to center and hustled into second base when the ball skipped away from Becker outfielder Joe Corey. After Dreher advanced to third on a ground out, Alex King (lebannon, Conn.) brought him home with a double to deep centerfield. Anthony Pagano (Cranston, R.I.) followed with a single to right field, scoring king, giving the Blazers a 4-2 advantage. An RBI single by Rey Rivera gave Elms a 5-2 lead after five innings.
The Blazers padded their lead in the sixth inning when they put four more runs on the board. The big hit was a two run single by Zach Dreher. Anthony Pagano and Donny Morse (Alfred, Me.) chipped in with RBI's in the inning, giving the Blazers a commanding 9-2 lead.
The Hawks made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth when they scored three runs off Elms starter Derek Leal (Charlton, Mass.), but Geoffrey Forrest (Ludlow, Mass.) came in to get the final two outs of the game, avoiding a sweep by Becker.
Leal earned the win for the Blazers (5-11, 3-2) after pitching eight and a third innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. Elms College returns to action on Thursday, March 29, when they host MCLA at 3:30pm.
Tony Cantalupo took the loss for the Hawks (8-6, 5-1) after allowing five runs, on eight hits, in four and a third innings of work. Joe Corey led the Becker offense by going three for four with an RBI. Joe Spero (Glastonbury, Conn.) pitched well for the Hawks out of the bullpen, not allowing a run in three and two-thirds innings.
Becker gets back on the field on Wednesday, March 28 when they host Rivier College at 4:00pm.