Baseball Posts Double Header Split with Newbury College

HOLYOKE, Mass. – The Elms College baseball team earned a double header split with Newbury College in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action at MacKenzie Stadium in Holyoke, Mass.

With the split, Elms moves to 6-11 overall, 2-3 in league play, Newbury moves to 9-13 on the season, 4-5 in NECC action.

Game One: Elms 5, Newbury 3

In game one, Newbury took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first when David Dubay (Farmington, Conn.) who reached on a one-out single, stole second and then stole third and came around on an error to give the Nighthawks a 1-0 lead.

Elms answered with two in the bottom of the second as senior right fielder Alex King (Lebanon, Conn.) delivered an RBI single to center field before junior center fielder Brady Forrest (Hampden, Mass.) later drove in a run with a bases-loaded free pass to give the Blazers a 2-1 edge.

After two scoreless innings, Newbury reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth when Ryan Zahornasky (Shelton, Conn.) cracked an RBI base hit and Michael Dwyer (Hamden, Conn.) earned an RBI walk to give the Nighthawks a 3-2 lead.

Elms knotted the game at 3-3 in the home half of the fifth when sophomore shortstop Nolan Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) scored on a wild pitch.

The Blazers then pushed across two in the bottom of the sixth when freshman left fielder Tim Gelzinis (North Dighton, Mass.) walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a double by sophomore second baseman Aedin Wadja (Lebanon, Conn.). After a walk to Forrest, Medeiros moved the runners up on a sacrifice bunt before senior catcher Zach Dreher (Naugatuck, Conn.) delivered a sacrifice fly to right field to set the score at 5-3.

Sophomore reliever Kyle Bartlett (Huntington, Mass.), who entered in relief of senior starter Derek Leal (Charlton, Mass.), fired two innings of scoreless baseball and surrendered just one hit to improve to 1-1 overall.

Newbury reliever Craig Barnett (Narre Warren, Victoria, Australia) pitched 1.2 innings and suffered the loss. Starter Daniel Lumb (Stoneham, Mass.) pitched 4.1 frames in the no-decision.

Elms' senior designated hitter Sam Farnsworth (Westfield, Mass.) was 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored, while Wadja collected two hits in the winning effort.

Dubay was 3 for 4 with two runs scored for the Nighthawks and Steven Broy (Mansfield, Mass.) was 2 for 3 with a double.

Game Two: Newbury 5, Elms 3

In Newbury again took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Broy singled in Ian Hruniak (Lutz, Fla.).

Elms responded in the bottom of the second when Gelzinis singled in King who reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the frame to event the game at 1-1.

In the top of the third, the Nighthawks pushed across four runs on the strength of an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Broy, an RBI groundout by Cameron D'Agostino (Salisbury, Mass.) and a run-scoring base hit by Michael Perillo (Mansfield, Mass.). Dubay also came across in the stanza on a miscue by the Blazers' defense to give Newbury a 5-1 advantage.

In the bottom of the fourth, Gelzinis singled and then scored on an RBI double by Forrest. Forrest then advanced to third on a single by Medeiros and scored on an RBI base hit by Dreher to pull Elms to within two at 5-3. Newbury starting pitcher Ethan Forrest (East Bridgewater, Mass.) forced a pop-out to the second baseman to end the inning.

Elms threatened in the bottom of the fifth when King cracked a one-out double but could not advance any further as Newbury was able to keep its two-run lead.

In the top of the seventh frame Newbury put two runners in scoring position Elms' sophomore starter Andrew Sadowski (Northampton, Mass.) issued a two-out strikeout to keep the Blazers' deficit at two.

In the bottom of the seventh, King ripped a one-out single but Newbury reliever Lyndon Brundige (Rockland, Mass.), who entered to start the inning, forced a game-ending double play.

Forrest earned the win for Newbury to improve to 3-2 on the season, Brundige added his first save of the season. Sadowski suffered the loss to move to 1-2 overall.

Dreher was 4 for 4 with a double, while King and Gelzinis tallied two hits each for the Blazers.

Dubay was 3 for 4, while Perillo added two hits and Broy drove in two runs.

Elms and Newbury will complete the three-game series on Sunday, April 13 at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton, Mass. at 3:00 p.m.