Baseball Sweeps by MacMurray College, 6-4 and 5-3

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Elms College baseball team earned a double-header sweep of MacMurray College winning the first game, 6-4 in nine innings and followed a 5-3 win in the seven-inning nightcap during Wednesday's Gene Cusic Classic action in Fort Myers, Fla.

With the two wins, Elms improves to 4-2 on the season.

In the first game, junior first baseman Alex King (Lebanon, Conn.) connected for a two-out base hit, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on an RBI single by junior designated hitter Sam Farnsworth (Westfield, Mass.) to give Elms a 1-0 lead.

MacMurray answered with a run in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 1-1 before the Blazers pushed across three in the top of the fourth.

Freshman shortstop Nolan Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.), freshman third baseman Brian Langdon (Beacon Falls, Conn.) and freshman second baseman Aedin Wadja (Lebanon, Conn.) each scored a run, while Wadja and freshman left fielder Dan McCormack (Shelton, Conn.) highlighted the frame with RBI singles.

MacMurray again came back, scoring two in the fifth and one in the seventh to tie the game at 4-4. Elms advanced a runner as far as third in the eighth inning but could not plate the go-ahead run until the next inning when King led off with a single and later came around to score on a base knock by Medeiros. Langdon then drove in sophomore right fielder Brady Forrest (Hampden, Mass.) with an insurance run.

Elms' sophomore reliever Sean Sinnott (Granby, Conn.) pitched 4.1 innings of relief and dealt two strikeouts en route to the win. Freshman starter Andrew Sadowski (Northampton, Mass.) pitched 4.2 innings on the mound and struck out eight batters in the no-decision.

King finished 3 for 5 at the dish with two runs scored and Forrest added two singles to help Elms to victory.

In the second game, Forrest drove in McCormack with a sacrifice fly to center in the bottom of the first, and senior center fielded Stephen Fisher (West Boylston, Mass.) delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the second scoring Wadja who reached on a one-out double to give the Blazers a 2-0 lead.

MacMurray battled back in the top of the fifth tying the game on a two-out, two-run single, but Elms continued its offensive surge, plating three in the bottom of the sixth to stake a 5-2 lead.

Medeiros and sophomore catcher Kevin Dwire (Ellington, Conn.) registered back-to-back singles to lead off the frame, Wadja drove in Medeiros with a sacrifice fly to right field and McCormack connected for a run-scoring single give Elms a 4-2 lead. McCormack then trotted home when Fisher ripped a two-out triple to give the Blazers a 5-2 cushion.

MacMurray scored a run in the top of the seventh but Elms' sophomore relief pitcher Geoffrey Frost (Ludlow, Mass.) struck out the final batter to help preserve the 5-3 win.

Frost earned the win in 1.1 innings of work on the hill, while senior starter Ryan Burnette (Chicopee, Mass.) went 5.2 and earned a no-decision.

Elms returns to Cusic Classic action on Thursday, March 14 with a double-header against Wisconsin Lutheran College at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.