Baseball Powers Past Southern Vermont College, 12-7

Box Score

BENNINGTON, Vt. – Elms College senior first baseman Mike Andrews (Greenfield, Mass.) and junior right fielder Albert Betances (Springfield, Mass.) each homered twice in game one of the Blazers' New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) baseball doubleheader with Southern Vermont College. Elms took a 1-0 lead into the third inning of game two before the contest was halted due to inclement weather.

With the game one win, Elms improves to 6-16, 2-5 in the NECC, while Southern Vermont falls to 9-12 overall, 3-4 in league play.

Elms broke a scoreless tie in the top of the second when senior third baseman Brian Marrero (Kendall Park, N.J.) drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on a single to left center by sophomore left fielder Donald Morse (Alfred, Maine) and then moved to third when junior Robert Reyome (Westfield, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Junior catcher Carm Bonavita (Springfield, Mass.) then smacked a two-run base hit to center field giving the Blazers a 2-0 lead. A two-out double to left field off the bat of junior shortstop Brendan Cordeiro (Berkley, Mass.) sent Bonavita to the plate before Southern Vermont starting pitcher Ben Naaktgeboren (Cambridge, N.Y.) issued back-to-back walks to freshman center fielder Stephen Fisher (West Boylston, Mass.) and Andrews. Sophomore second baseman Andrew Kravontka (Manchester, Conn.), who reached earlier on a single, scored on Andrews' free pass giving Elms a 4-0 lead.

Southern Vermont answered with two runs in the bottom of the second on an RBI walk by Keith Diotte (Cambridge, Mass.) and a sacrifice fly to left field by Dave Gage (Gloversville, N.Y.).

The Blazers responded with a run in the top of the third when Morse reached on a one-out outfield miscue allowing him to race all the way to third. He then came full circle on a sacrifice fly by Reyome giving Elms a 5-2 lead.

The Mountaineers forged ahead with a four-run home half of the third inning, by a Dan Cook (Watervliet, N.Y.) RBI walk and a run-scoring double play ball hit by Danny Vardaro (Colonie, N.Y.) to give Southern Vermont a 6-5 edge.

Elms then plated six unanswered runs over the next three innings to stake an 11-6 lead. Andrews delivered a three-run shot to right field in the fourth, while Betances connected for a solo homer in the top of the fifth and a two-run blast in the top of the sixth to give the Blazers a five-run cushion.

Pat Warrington (Folcroft, Pa.) went deep for Southern Vermont in the bottom of the sixth to pull the Mountaineers to within four, but Andrews upped Elms' lead back to five with his second long ball of the day to set the score at 12-7.

Junior right-hander Matt Wood (Feeding Hills, Mass.) was stellar on the mound for Elms, tossing nine strikeouts in the seven-inning complete game win to improve to 4-2. Naaktgeboren lasted just 1.2 innings and suffered the loss to fall to 1-4 overall.

Andrews and Betances combined for eight of the Blazers' 11 RBI and each had two hits on the day, while Bonavita and Cordeiro added two hits each in the winning effort.

Warrington finished 3 for 4 with two runs scored and had three of Southern Vermont's five hits in the loss.