Southern Vermont College Earns Series Sweep With Doubleheader Victories of 2-0 and 7-6

Box Scores

BENNINGTON, Vt. – Elms College junior shortstop Nicolino Iavicoli (Hampden, Mass.) went 2 for 4 with two RBI in game two, and junior lefty Andrew Bunger (Southington, Conn.) tossed a complete game in the opener but Southern Vermont College's Pat Warrington (Folcroft, Pa.) was a combined 4 for 7 with an RBI and a run scored to help lead the Mountaineers to a sweep of the Blazers in Friday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) baseball doubleheader at Epstein Field in Bennington, Vt.

Southern Vermont won the first game 2-0 and then secured a 7-6 win in the nightcap to complete the sweep and improve to 14-19 overall, 8-7 in NECC action. Elms falls to 13-18 on the season, 5-10 in conference action.

Southern Vermont 2, Elms 0

After two scoreless innings, Southern Vermont broke the 0-0 deadlock in the bottom of the third when Dave Northup (Richmond, R.I.) singled up the middle, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Dave Gage (Gloversville, N.Y.) and then scored when Warrington laced a two-out double to right field to give the Mountaineers a 1-0 edge.

Southern Vermont added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth when Adam Northup (Richmond, R.I.) doubled to center and later scored on a two-out single through the left side by Keith Diotte (Cambridge, N.Y.) to extend the lead to 2-0.

Elms had its only chance at a run in the third inning when senior catcher Carm Bonavita (Springfield, Mass.) singled to the right side, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman right fielder Alex King (Lebanon, Conn.) and then moved to third on a base hit to center by senior second baseman Brendan Cordeiro (Berkley, Mass.). Mountaineers' pitcher Connor Murray (Litchfield, Conn.) struck out the next batter and forced a fly out to strand Bonavita at third.

Murray tossed all seven innings and improved to 2-1 on the bump, while Bunger tossed four strikeouts but suffered the loss and is now 2-3 for Elms.

Warrington had two of Southern Vermont's seven hits, while the Blazers were held to just four hits.

Southern Vermont 7, Elms 6

Trailing 4-0 in the top of the fifth, Bonavita cracked a one-out single to left field and advanced to second when freshman pinch-hitter Derek Leal (Charlton, Mass.) drove a base hit up the middle. Brendan Cordeiro then earned a walk to load the bases for sophomore center fielder Stephen Fisher (West Boylston, Mass.) who singled in Bonavita to cut the lead to 4-1. Iavicoli followed with a two-run bullet down the left field line to pull the Blazers to within one at 4-3 before a 9-4 double play got the Mountaineers out of the jam.

Southern Vermont answered with a three-run home half of the frame when Corey Armstrong (Bennington, Vt.) and Adam Northup delivered back-to-back RBI doubles and Diotte lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to give the Mountaineers a 7-3 lead.

Elms responded right back when freshman designated hitter Anthony Pagano (Cranston, R.I.), junior first baseman Reynaldo Rivera (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and freshman third baseman Zachary Dreher (Naugatuck, Conn.) struck for singles to lead off the inning. Pagano then scored on a wild pitch and Rivera later scored on a fielder's choice before Brendan Cordeiro drove in the final run with an RBI groundout to again pull the Blazers to within one at 7-6.

Gage entered in relief in the top of the seventh inning and earned his second save of the season, retiring Elms in order to seal the one-run victory.

After tossing three shutout frames, Elms' starter Ryan Burnette (Chicopee, Mass.) ran into trouble in the fourth before being lifted in the fifth. He suffered the loss to fall to 1-3, while sophomore reliever John Russell (Springfield, Mass.) tossed an inning of scoreless relief.

Southern Vermont starter Ben Naaktgeboren (Cambridge, N.Y.) pitched 4.1 innings and earned the win to move to 3-2 overall.

Gage, Warrington, Armstrong, and Adam Northup had two hits apiece while Andrew Morin (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.) drove in two runs.

Elms returns to NECC action on Saturday, April 30 when it hosts Daniel Webster College for a twinbill starting at 1:00 p.m. at MacKenzie Stadium in Holyoke, Mass.