Baseball Drops Conference Opener to Newbury

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

RINDGE, N.H. – The Elms College baseball squad dropped their New England Collegiate Conference opener to Newbury College, 5-2, in a neutral contest at Pappas Field on the campus of Franklin Pierce University Wednesday night.

After two scoreless innings opened play, the Blazers struck first in the third as freshman outfielder Michael Bombard (Chicopee, Mass.) laced a one-out triple, and then came around to score on an error by Nighthawks freshman shortstop Billy Stephen (Windermere, Fla.), to stake Elms to a 1-0 lead.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Newbury grabbed control by plating five runs in the inning. With one out, senior designated hitter Stephen Broy (Gorham, Maine) knocked an RBI double to knot the game at 1-1. The Nighthawks took the lead on an RBI fielder's choice from junior third baseman Ryan Zahornasky (Shelton, Conn.), followed by a two-run single from Stephen to extend the Newbury lead to 4-1. The rally came to a close on a two-out RBI single from sophomore second baseman C.J. Ingraham (Georgetown, Mass.) to make it a 5-1 game after five innings of play.

Newbury senior pitcher Ryan Sinclair (Portsmouth, R.I.) held the Blazers to two hits over the next two scoreless innings. Elms threatened in the eighth as sophomore first baseman Jordan Zima (Berlin, Conn.) and sophomore catcher Stephen Harrison (Southbury, Conn.) delivered back-to-back singles, followed by a walk to junior shortstop Nolan Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) to load the bases. With two outs, Zima scampered home on a wild pitch from Sinclair, as Harrison and Medeiros took third and second, respectively. Sinclair stifled the rally, inducing a fly ball to left field from junior outfielder R.J. Lyrenmann (Glendale, Ariz.). Newbury senior pitcher Lyndon Brundige (Rockland, Mass.) fired a 1-2-3 ninth inning to secure the 5-2 victory for the Nighthawks.

Elms senior outfielder Brady Forrest (Hampden, Mass.) led the Blazers at the plate with a 3-for-5 with three singles, while Harrison added a pair of singles. Elms junior pitcher Tom Weldon (1-2; Springfield, Mass.) took the loss, allowing five runs, three earned, on four hits with a game-high eight strikeouts.

Newbury sophomore pitcher Ethan Forrest (1-1; East Bridgewater, Mass.) earned the win in five innings of work, surrendering one run on four hits with three strikeouts, while Brundige collected his first save of the season.

The Blazers move to 5-5 on the season, and 0-1 in league play, while the Nighthawks improved to 4-8 overall, and 1-3 in NECC action. Elms will return to the diamond with a weekend conference series against Becker College at Franklin Pierce. The first pitch of game one of Saturday's doubleheader is slated for 9:30 a.m. Newbury squares off with Emerson College at Franklin Pierce Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.

ELMS BASEBALL