Baseball Tops Becker College, 10-5

NASHUA, N.H. – Elms College sophomore first baseman Anthony Pagano (Cranston, R.I.) went 3 for 5 at the plate and senior left fielder Donny Morse (Alfred, Maine) drove in three runs to help pace the fourth-seeded Blazers to a 10-5 win over No. 2 Becker College in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship tournament double-elimination semifinal game at Harvey Woods Field in Nashua, N.H.

With the win, Elms improves to 14-23 on the season and awaits the loser of today's game between No. 1 Daniel Webster College and No. 3 Newbury College. That contest is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. this afternoon.

After Becker took an early 1-0 lead in  the top of the first, Elms exploded for five runs in the bottom of the first as the Blazers loaded the bases and used a two-run single by Morse and a two-run double by freshman right fielder Brady Forrest (Hampden, Mass.) to highlight the five-run frame.

Elms added two in the bottom of the fourth when junior center fielder Steve Fisher (West Boylston, Mass.) tripled in senior third baseman Andrew Kravontka (Manchester, Conn.) and then scored on an RBI base hit by sophomore second baseman Alex King (Lebanon, Conn.).

The Hawks answered back in the top of the fifth frame, trailing 7-1 when Todd Tompkins (West Haven, Conn.) and Tony D'Addio (West Haven, Conn.) connected for run-scoring singles, Mike Marcello (West Haven, Conn.) added an RBI walk and Tompkins scored on a passed ball to cut Elms' lead to 7-5.

The Blazers pulled away with another run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Fisher and then used a run-scoring double by Morse and an RBI base knock by senior designated hitter Sean Shanley (Bristol, Conn.) in the bottom of the sixth to set the score at 10-5 in favor of Elms.

From there, Blazers' sophomore reliever Curtis LeBeau (Auburn, Mass.) pitched 4.2 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win striking out a pair of batters in the process.

Forrest and Pagano pounded out three hits each, while Fisher, King and Morse added two apiece.

Hawks' leadoff hitter Joe Corey (Billerica, Mass.) was 4 for 5 at the dish, while Marcello drove in a pair of runs to lead Becker in defeat.

Trenton Gibson (Henderson, Nev.) suffered the loss for Becker.