Baseball Earns Split with Becker College

LEICESTER, Mass. – Elms College freshman left fielder Dan McCormack (Shelton, Conn.) and freshman shortstop Nolan Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) connected for back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the seventh of game two to help the Blazers earn a split in Thursday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) baseball double-header at Rochdale Park.

Becker won the first game, 5-1 before Elms responded with a 2-0 victory in the nightcap to earn the split. The Blazers improve to 14-14 overall, 6-5 in NECC action, while the Hawks move to 5-22 overall, 3-9 in NECC action.

Becker 5, Elms 1

In game one, Elms took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first frame when junior catcher Zachary Dreher (Naugatuck, Conn.) reached on an error and then scored when junior designated hitter Sam Farnsworth (Westfield, Mass.) laced a two-out double to center field.

The Hawks answered in the bottom of the third inning when Eric Lajoie (Oakham, Mass.) reached on a Blazers' miscue and advanced to second to lead off the inning. A walk to Todd Tompkins (West Haven, Conn.) put two on before Austin Phillips (Thomson, Ga.) reached on another error allowing the tying run to cross the plate. A sacrifice fly by Mike Marcello (West Haven, Conn.) lifted the score to 2-1 and Elms' third error of the frame allowed the third run to come home before CJ Flanders (Londonderry, N.H.) connected for an RBI groundout to make the score 4-1.

Becker added to its lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth when Phillips led off the stanza with a single to left and later came in to score on an RBI base hit to left by Taylor Kapulka (Worcester, Mass.) to lift the lead to 5-1.

Becker starting pitcher Nick Lemay (Oxford, Mass.) was stellar in the complete-game win for the Hawks earning a complete-game victory to improve to 2-3 on the season. Lemay allowed one unearned run on four hits and struck out six batters in 7.0 innings of work.

Elms' senior left-handed starter John Russell (Springfield, Mass.) pitched the first 4.2 innings and suffered the loss (1-3). He allowed five runs (one earned) on five hits and struck out one batter.

Elms 2, Becker 0

Game two featured a pitcher's duel between Elms' junior right-hander Curtis LeBeau (Auburn, Mass.) and Becker's Trenton Gibson (Henderson, Nev.).

Both pitchers scattered just two hits through the first six innings and kept the game at a 0-0 deadlock until Elms pushed across two in the top of the seventh frame.

Sophomore designated hitter Kevin Dwire (Ellington, Conn.) drilled a two-out single up the middle and was pinch-run for by freshman RJ Lyrenmann (Glendale, Ariz.). Freshman second baseman Aedin Wadja (Lebanon, Conn.) then reached on an error by Becker giving Elms runners on the corners with two down in the frame. McCormack then drove a pitch through the left side of the infield to send Lyrenmann home with what stood as the game-winning run, and Medeiros followed with an RBI base hit of his own.

The Hawks' Tom Natoli (Suffern, N.Y.) connected for a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh, but LeBeau forced a fly out and foul out to preserve the shutout victory.

LeBeau (2-3) allowed no runs on three hits in 7.0 innings of work and struck out two batters. Gibson suffered the loss to fall to 1-3 on the season. He allowed two unearned runs on five hits and fanned four batters.

Elms returns to NECC action on Saturday, April 20 when it hosts Southern Vermont College at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. at MacKenzie Stadium in Holyoke, Mass.