Baseball Blanks Southern Vermont For Series Sweep

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

HOLYOKE, Mass. – The Elms College baseball team shutout visiting Southern Vermont College, 2-0, in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) game at MacKenzie Stadium Sunday afternoon. With the victory, the Blazers improve to 12-17 on the season, and 8-6 in the NECC, while the Mountaineers fall to 5-7 in conference play and 7-22 overall.

After four scoreless innings, Elms senior Jordan Zima (Berlin, Conn.) deposited a solo home run into the bullpen behind left field to hand the Blazers a 1-0 lead. With two outs, senior Brian Hungerford (New Preston, Conn.) stroked an RBI double into the left-centerfield gap, allowing classmate Tim Gelzinis (North Dighton, Mass.) to score from first, increasing the Elms advantage to 2-0.

Elms sophomore pitcher Matt Plasse (Westfield, Mass.) worked out of a jam in fifth inning as the Mountaineers loaded the bases on a two-out single from sophomore Zack Stacey (Saratoga, N.Y.), but Plasse induced an inning-ending groundout to preserve the 2-0 lead.

Elms freshman Jacob Graveline (Palmer, Mass.) navigated the final three innings on the hill, limiting Southern Vermont to two hits while striking out five batters to record his first career save and seal the 2-0 victory.

Gelzinis and Zima knocked two hits and scored, while Zima and Hungerford drove in the Blazers runs. Plasse (4-2) scattered six hits with five strikeouts across six scoreless innings in the win.

Stacey, sophomore Dan Mason (Bloomingdale, N.J.), and freshman Connor Pingitore (Amsterdam, N.Y.) went 2-for-4 at the dish for Southern Vermont. Senior Dylan Angelo (Amsterdam, N.Y.) went the distance in the loss, allowing two runs on seven hits.

The Blazers will look to remain in the win column when they travel to Amherst for a non-conference game Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. Southern Vermont travels to Skidmore for a non-conference game Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.

ELMS BASEBALL