Baseball Splits Doubleheader with Westminster College (Mo.)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Elms College baseball team earned a split with Westminster College (Mo.) with a 5-1 loss in the first game, followed by a 7-0 win in the nightcap on Monday at the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Fla.

Elms improves to 2-2 on the season with its second straight split.

In game one, freshmen Dan McCormack (Shelton, Conn.) and Nolan Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) collected two hits each while freshman Aedin Wadja (Lebanon, Conn.) drove in sophomore Brady Forrest (Hampden, Mass.) with the Blazers' lone run in the game.

Forrest, McCormack and Medeiros each registered a pair of hits as Elms left seven runners in scoring position.

Junior right-hander Derek Leal (Charlton, Mass.) pitched the first 5.2 innings allowing four runs, three earned on six hits while walking three and striking out three and suffered the loss.

Senior reliever Ryan Burnette (Chicopee, Mass.) and allowed one run on four hits. He walked one and struck out one in 1.1 innings of relief on the hill.

Game two saw Elms take an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Forrest reached on an error, stole second, moved to third on a base hit by Medeiros and then scored on an RBI single by junior Zachary Dreher (Naugatuck, Conn.).

The Blazers pushed across two more runs in the top of the fifth when McCormack led off the frame with a double and later came in to score on a sacrifice fly by junior Alex King (Lebanon, Conn.). Forrest drove in the second run of the stanza to give Elms a 3-0 lead.

An inning later, Dreher, freshman Brian Langdon (Beacon Falls, Conn.) and Wadja delivered back-to-back-to back singles to load the bases for McCormack who drove in the first run with a base hit. Senior Stephen Fisher (West Boylston, Mass.) followed a run-scoring hit of his own and King added his second sacrifice fly of the game to set the score at 6-0. Junior Sam Farnsworth (Westfield, Mass.) added the final scoring punch of the stanza with a base knock to seal the Blazers' 7-0 triumph.

Freshman starting pitcher Thomas Weldon (Springfield, Mass.) pitched the complete game shutout scattering just four hits while striking out two and walking one.

Fisher finished the game 3 for 4 at the plate with a run scored, while Medeiros and McCormack chipped in two hits each in the win.

Elms returns to Gene Cusic Classic action on Wednesday, March 13 with a doubleheader versus MacMurray beginning at 10:00 a.m.