Baseball Walks Off Over Becker in NECC Action

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

HOLYOKE, Mass. – The Elms College baseball team returned to the win column in dramatic fashion with an 11-10 walk-off victory over Becker College in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) game Thursday night at MacKenzie Stadium. With the win, the Blazers improved to 9-11 overall, and 4-6 in NECC play, while Becker dropped to 10-11, and 5-1 on the season.

Becker struck first in the top of the first inning as senior Matt Consigli (Whitinsville, Mass.) laced a leadoff triple into left field, and then came around to score on a wild pitch from Elms senior starter Sean Sinnott (Granby, Mass.), to stake the Hawks to a 1-0 lead.

The Blazers rallied in the second as freshman Michael Bombard (Chicopee, Mass.) delivered a leadoff single, and scored on an RBI double from sophomore Stephen Harrison (Southbury, Conn.) to knot the game at 1-1. Harrison scored on a wild pitch from Becker senior Keon Jenkins (Nashua, N.H.), followed by an RBI single from senior Brady Forrest (Hampden, Mass.) to give Elms the 3-1 advantage.

The Blazers extended their lead in the third. Bombard ripped an RBI single to left field, and then senior Kevin Dwire (Ellington, Conn.) blasted a two-run single into right field, putting Elms up 6-1 after three innings. In the fourth, the Blazers continued to pour it on with Bombard scoring on a single from Harrison, followed by an RBI single from Dwire to make it an 8-1 game. Forrest scored from first on an RBI double from sophomore Tim Gelzinis (North Dighton, Mass.) in the fifth, who scored on an RBI single from senior Geoff Frost (Ludlow, Mass.) to extend the Elms advantage to 10-1 through five innings.

The Hawks chipped away at their deficit with three runs in the sixth. Freshman Francis Baldino (East Brookfield, Mass.) knocked an RBI single, followed by an RBI single from freshman Kevin Perez (Jersey City, N.J.), and then Baldino scored on a wild pitch to cut the Elms lead to 10-4. Becker continued to trim their deficit with an RBI single from sophomore Niko Bedell (Manorville, N.Y.) in the seventh, and an RBI single from Consigli in the eighth to make it a 10-7 contest.

Becker completed their comeback in the ninth with an RBI double from Sempkowski cutting the Blazers lead to 10-8 with no outs and runners on second and third. Bedell scored on a wild pitch, and then the Hawks knotted the game at 10-10 on an RBI single from Perez.

With two outs and runners on first and second, Elms sophomore Jordan Zima (Berlin, Conn.) belted an walk off RBI single to right field, scoring freshman Ben Ross (Thompson, Conn.) to send the Blazer to the 11-10 win over Becker.

Sinnott went six innings in the no decision with a season-high 11 strikeouts. Elms junior Andrew Sadowski (Northampton, Mass.) earned the win in relief. Becker senior Matt Camara (South Attleboro, Mass.) took the loss in relief, allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work.

The Blazers will return to the diamond with an NECC doubleheader at Southern Vermont Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Becker hosts Newbury in an NECC twinbill Saturday afternoon at Noon.

ELMS BASEBALL