Baseball Falls to US Coast Guard Academy, 11-5

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Elms College baseball team suffered an 11-5 loss to the US Coast Guard Academy in Wednesday afternoon's Gene Cusic Classic action in Fort Myers, Fla.

With the loss, Elms moves to 2-5 overall and concludes its spring break trip on Thursday with a double-header against Millikin College at 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.

Coast Guard sprinted out to an early cushion posting five runs in the first inning, one run in the second, three in the fifth and two in the sixth stanza to give the Bears an 11-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Elms got on the board when freshman right fielder Arthur Tisi (Somers, N.Y.) singled to right field to lead off the frame and then scored when sophomore left fielder R.J. Lyrenmann (Glendale, Ariz.) launched a two-run homer to right field to set the score at 11-2.

The Blazers added three more runs in the bottom of the ninth when junior center fielder Brady Forrest (Hampden, Mass.) drilled a two-out double to left field and then scored when sophomore shortstop Nolan Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) cracked an RBI single to left field.

A double to right field by senior catcher Zach Dreher (Naugatuck, Conn.) put two runners in scoring position for junior Kevin Dwire (Ellington, Conn.) who connected for a two-run single to pull Elms to within six at 11-5, but Coast Guard reliever Colton Cannon (Kennesaw, Ga.), who entered to start the ninth, was able to force a fly out to center field to end the game.

Forrest was 3 for 4 with a run scored for the Blazers, while Medeiros and Dwire each had two hits in the losing effort. Dwire and Lyrenmann added two RBI each.

Elms' sophomore starter Tom Weldon (Springfield, Mass.) suffered the loss on the hill. He went 5.1 innings and struck out three batters. Sophomore reliever Kyle Bartlett (Huntington, Mass.) tossed the next 3.2 innings and allowed just two hits while striking out two.

Bears' starter Eric Vrissis (Stamford, Conn.) tossed six scoreless innings and fanned four batters to pick up the win.

Kyle Wood (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and Mark Behne (Clifton, Va.) added three hits each to lead the Coast Guard offensive efforts, while Wood drove in three runners.