Baseball Sweeps Southern Vermont in NECC Twinbill

BENNINGTON, Vt. — Early run support in both games saw the Elms College starting pitchers go the distance as the visiting Blazers defeated Southern Vermont College 6-4 and 7-2 to sweep a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) baseball doubleheader at Bill Epstein Field on Saturday.

The two sides will meet Sunday at Elms for the series' rubber match, first pitch slated for 12 p.m.

The Blazers improve to 11-12 on the year and an even 6-6 in league play with the day's sweep while SVC falls to 10-12 overall, 3-5 against the NECC.

GAME 1: Elms 6, Southern Vermont 4
EC chalked up three runs in the top of the first before the Mountaineer bats answered with four in the home half of the inning to take the lead. The SVC upper hand would not last for long, however, as the Blazers put up another three in the second. Neither side crossed the dish for the remainder of the game as Elms finished off the 6-4 victory.

Mountaineer junior second baseman RJ Pingitore (Amsterdam, N.Y.) was 1-4 with an RBI and a run scored in the effort while senior right fielder Roland Hernandez (Pico Rivera, Calif.) and freshman left fielder Eric Fields (Lakewood, Calif.) were both 1-3 with a run batted in. Senior shortstop Chris Nicastro Jr. (Kenilworth, N.J.) was 1-4 with a run scored and a stolen base, and junior catcher Richard Rios (Pico Rivera, Calif.) added a 1-2 showing with a run scored.

Elms sophomore first baseman Jordan Zima (Berlin, Conn.) led his team with a 3-4 performance with the stick, knocking in two runs while scoring another pair. Freshman left fielder Michael Bombard (Chicopee, Mass.) was 2-3 with three RBIs while senior center fielder Brady Forrest (Hampden, Mass.) was 1-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base out of the lead-off spot.

Blazer starting junior righty Tom Weldon (Springfield, Mass.) grabbed the win from the hill (4-2), giving up just one earned run and striking out six in his seven innings on the mound. SVC freshman right-hander Jean-Carlos Berasgoico (New York, N.Y.) took the loss (2-2), allowing three earned runs and striking out three in the complete-game effort.

A single up the middle led-off the game, and Forrest was then batted in on a Zima single to left center. Bombard followed with another run-scoring base hit before a ground out to Pingitore plated the third Blazer run of the inning.

Southern Vermont came right back in the bottom of the frame to take a 4-3 lead. Senior center fielder Sal Sciara (Massapequa, N.Y.) started the SVC inning by wearing a pitch, and he moved around to third on a pair of Elms miscues. Pingitore then singled to short for the lead Mountaineer runner to cross the plate with the hosts' first run of the day. Another hit batter loaded the bases with one out, and a passed ball allowed all three runners to advance a base as SVC made it a 3-2 ballgame. Hernandez subsequently singled to left for Pingitore to come home, and Fields followed with a fielder's choice grounder to second that brought Rios in to score the go-ahead run. 

The Mountaineers wouldn't be in front for long as Elms answered with another three runs in the next half inning. A two-out walk put Blazers on first and second, and Zima then came through with another run-scoring single to tie the contest. Bombard laced a two-run double to the gap in left center, putting his team up with the eventual 6-3 final.

SVC stranded a runner at second in both the third and fourth innings before getting a lone runner to first in the fifth and seventh. Despite allowing batters to reach, Weldon kept Southern Vermont from crossing the plate in his final six innings on the mound to close out his fourth win of the season.

GAME 2: Elms 7, Southern Vermont 2
Game two of the twin bill saw Elms once again put up three runs in the top of the first for another early lead. This time, the Blazers kept SVC off the scoreboard until after they put up three more runs in the third and one in the sixth for a 7-0 advantage. Sothern Vermont tallied a pair of runs in its final trip to bat, but it was not enough as EC finished off the doubleheader sweep.

Sciara went 2-4 out of the SVC lead-off spot while Fields was 2-3 with a run scored. Sophomore catcher Anthony Mercuri (Ridge, N.Y.) had a 2-3 showing of his own, and Nicastro chipped in with a 1-4 performance while knocking in two runs.

Zima was 2-4 in the day-cap with two runs scored and an RBI, and sophomore catcher Stephen Harrison (Southbury, Conn.) went 2-4 with two runs batted in and another scored. Bombard was 2-4 with two runs scored while senior designated hitter Kevin Dwire (Ellington, Conn.) and freshman right fielder Andy Vasquez (Queens, N.Y.) each went 1-3 with an RBI.

EC junior right-hander Andrew Sadowski (Northampton, Mass.) took the win from the bump (4-3), giving up just one earned run and striking out four in his complete-game victory. Mountaineer senior righty Dustyn Marfyak (Torrington, Conn.) was strapped with the loss (3-2) after giving up the winning run during his 2.1 innings with the start.

A Forrest double to right center started the game, and he was able to move up to third on a fly out to right. A grounder to Pingitore then saw Forrest come in to score the first run of the game, and Zima followed with a solo shot to right that made it a 2-0 Elms advantage. Three straight singles allowed Dwire to knock in Bombard, putting the visitors up 3-0 after their first trip to the plate.

After SVC stranded a runner at first to end the opening frame, both sides went down in order to quickly end the second. That's when Elms put up another three runs in the third for a comfortable lead. Zima hit a one-out single to left before Bombard doubled to center to put a pair of Blazers in scoring position. Harrison put one through the left side of the Mountaineer infield, allowing both runners to come in and score. Harrison then came around with the third EC run of the box when Vasquez singled out to right for a 6-0 Elms upper hand.

That score stood through the fifth before senior second baseman Tim Gelzinis (North Dighton, Mass.) knocked out another one-run Blazer homer in the sixth to make it 7-0 in favor of the visitors. SVC went down in order to finish the sixth, and Elms did the same in the top of the seventh to bring the Mountaineers back to bat. A pair of singles preceded Nicastro tallying a two-out single to right that scored both of the SVC runners. A final ground out to short, however, wrapped up the game and the day's sweep for the Blazers.