Baseball Kicks Off Spring Break with a Sweep Over Gordon

DAVENPORT, Fla. - The Elms College Baseball team traveled to Davenport, Fla. to compete against Gordon College in a non-conference doubleheader on Friday in the 2025 RussMatt Invitational.

BASICS
Game 1
Score: Elms College 6 | Gordon College 5
Records: Blazers 1-1, 0-0 (GNAC) | Fighting Scots 1-4, 0-0 (CNE)

Game 2
Score: Elms College 6 | Gordon College 5
Records: Blazers 2-1, 0-0 (GNAC) | Fighting Scots 1-5, 0-0 (CNE)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
Elms started the game off strong, scoring one run immediately in the first inning, as junior Chase Prestia (Newington, Conn.) batted in both senior Camron Watkins (East Haddam, Conn.) and senior George Chaya Jr. (Methuen, Mass.) to give the Blazers an early 2-0 lead. Elms would follow this strong start when graduate student AJ Cook (Mendon, Mass.) would drive in senior Michael Klein (Syosset, N.Y.) for a run after hitting a single to extend the lead to 3-0. Gordon would fight back to cut the deficit to 3-2, but in the top of the fourth inning, sophomore Griffen Levesque (Agawam, Mass.) would score off of a Gordon throwing error. After the fourth, the Elms pitching limited Gordon's opportunities to close the game out for the Blazers. Freshman Sal Ortiz (Springfield, Mass.) recorded three strikeouts in two innings and limited Gordon to only one run scored, setting up junior Jaden Palumbo (Worcester, Mass.) to record his first save of the season and give Elms the 6-5 win in Game 1 of the doubleheader.

Game 2
The Blazers picked back up where they left off in Game 1, as Cook scored an unearned run and senior Nick Kreuzuer (Suffield, Conn.) drove in Chaya Jr., to give the Blazers a 2-0 lead early. The Blazers capitalized on Gordon's throwing errors in the third inning, as Levesque scored again on a throwing error, which set up Watkins to record a sacrifice fly to score Cook and put the Blazers up 4-0. Gordon fought back though, scoring five runs over the next three innings to take a 5-4 lead, putting the Blazers in danger. Elms responded well in the sixth inning when Chaya Jr. scored off of a wild pitch after hitting a leadoff triple, and sophomore Andrew Ciaglo (Hadley, Mass.) recorded an RBI-single to score Watkins and give the players a 6-5 lead back. In the top of the seventh inning, senior Devin Kazarian (Westerly, R.I.) would pitch a scoreless inning to give the Blazers another 6-5 win and sweep over Gordon.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Arnold: earned the win after four innings pitched with three strikeouts in Game 1.

• Chaya Jr.: two for four at-bats, with a triple to earn his 100th career hit, three runs scored, two stolen bases, and a walk.

• Ciaglo: one for two at-bats, with a run batted-in.

• Cook: three for four at-bats, with five stolen bases, three runs scored, and a run batted-in.

• Kazarian: earned the win in Game 2 after pitching the final inning.

• Klein: 0 for two at-bats, with a run scored and a walk.

• Kreuzuer: 0 for three at-bats, with a run batted-in.

• Levesque: with three runs scored, two stolen bases, and a walk.

• Ortiz: two innings pitched with three strikeouts.

• Palumbo: earned the save after one inning pitched.

• Prestia: 0 for four at-bats, with two runs batted-in and a walk.

• Saas: pitched one and ⅓ innings with two strikeouts.

• Watkins: one for seven at-bats, with three stolen bases, two runs scored, and a run batted-in.

• Ziegler: pitched four and ⅔ innings with four strikeouts.

UP NEXT: The Elms Baseball team will return to Davenport, Fla. for the 2025 RussMatt Invitational for a doubleheader against Curry College on Sunday, March 9th at 4 and 7 pm at Northeast Regional Park Field 2.

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