Becker College Notches 12-2 Win Over Baseball

HOLYOKE, Mass. – Elms College junior catcher Zachary Dreher (Naugatuck, Conn.) went 2 for 4 with a double, but Becker College's Tom Natoli (Suffern, N.Y.) was 2 for 3 with three RBI and the Hawks plated four runs in the fourth inning and took an 8-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth frame to help secure a 12-2 victory over the Blazers in Tuesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) baseball game at MacKenzie Stadium in Holyoke, Mass.

With the loss, Elms moves to 5-8 overall, 0-1 in conference action, while Becker improves to 1-16, 1-6 in league action.

Becker pushed across four in the first highlighted by an RBI single to center by Natoli, an RBI triple by Taylor Kapulka (Worcester, Mass.) and run-scoring groundout by Nick Lemay (Oxford, Mass.) to give the Hawks a 4-0 lead.

Kapulka added an RBI single in the top of the second stanza and Natoli drove in a pair of runners in the top of the sixth frame to give Becker a 7-0 lead.

Becker's starting pitcher Tony Cantalupo (DePere, Wisc.) pitched the first seven innings and earned the win, allowing zero runs on six hits while striking out three batters.

The Hawks added another run in the top of the eighth before Elms' junior first baseman Alex King (Lebanon, Conn.) singled, advanced to second on a base hit by junior designated hitter Sam Farnsworth (Westfield, Mass.) and later scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of freshman shortstop Nolan Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.). Farnsworth then scored when Dreher reached on a Becker error to set the score at 8-2.

Becker answered with four runs in the top of the ninth inning sparked by two walks to lead off the frame and three consecutive hit batsmen. Todd Tompkins (West Haven, Conn.), Austin Phillips (Thomson, Ga.) and Mike Marcello (West Haven, Conn.) each had an RBI in the inning.  

Cantalupo earned the win for Becker, while Mike Schoen (Yorktown, N.Y.) and Ben Keough (Attleboro, Mass.) each pitched a scoreless inning of relief with Keough striking out the side in the ninth.

Elms' freshman starter Thomas Weldon (Springfield, Mass.) suffered the loss in five innings of work on the mound, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits while striking out five batters. Junior reliever Derek Leal (Charlton, Mass.) struck out three in 3.1 innings of work.

Marcello, Natioli and Kapulka each had two hits for Becker in the winning effort, while Tompkins scored four runs.  

Farnsworth and King delivered two hits for Elms.

Elms returns to non-conference play on Wednesday, April 3 when it hosts Wesleyan University (Conn.) at 7:30 p.m. at MacKenzie Stadium.