Elms Continues Winning Streak with Sweep of Penn State-Brandywine

DAVENPORT, FL - The Blazers swept Penn State University-Brandywine in a doubleheader in the RussMatt Invitational at Northeast Regional Park Wednesday morning.

BASICS
Game 1
Score: Elms College 6 | Penn State University-Brandywine 0
Record: Blazers 4-3, 0-0 (GNAC) | Nittany Lions 3-4, 0-0 (PSUAC)

Game 2
Score: Elms College 7 | Penn State University-Brandywine 3
Record: Blazers 5-3, 0-0 (GNAC) | Nittany Lions 3-5, 0-0 (PSUAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
Both teams started off slow on offense, failing to drive in any runs. The Blazers had a chance to drive in first-year Griffin Levesque (Agawam, MA) and senior AJ Cook (Mendon, MA) in the bottom of the second, but the Nittany Lions did not allow Elms to get on the board. In the bottom of the third inning, the Blazers would do their damage. Junior George Chaya Jr. (Methuen, MA) drove in graduate student Tyler Galenski (Wilbraham, MA), courtesy of a sacrifice fly, and Seamus Higgins recorded an RBI single to put Elms up 2-0. The Blazers would not stop there, and with the bases loaded, Cook recorded a two run single to extend the Blazers lead even more. A little bit later in the batting order, graduate student Josh Pasini (Enfield, CT) recorded another two run single, driving in Levesque and Cook to put the Blazers in front 6-0. Sophomore Justin Saad (Waterford, CT) pitched 5 shutout innings for the Blazers, in which the Elms defense kept the Nittany Lions in check, preventing them from scoring a run. Sophomore Trevor Nohilly (Bristol, CT) came on in relief of Saad, and continued the shutout, blanking the Nittany Lions. During the game, Cook would break the program's career stolen base record with 53 career steals, previously held by Joe Ferry '08 (Palmer, MA) with 52. Behind their 6-0 explosion in the third inning, the Blazers came out of Game 1 victorious 6-0.

Game 2
Elms picked right back up where they left off, as in the second inning, Levesque drove in a run off of a fielder's choice to put the Blazers ahead. Elms began to be aggressive with their baserunning, and this paid off when they performed a double steal, resulting in Higgins stealing home to give the Blazers a 2-0 lead. The Nittany Lions would finally get on the board in the bottom of the inning to cut the Elms lead to 2-1. The Blazers would record another fielder's choice again in the top of the third, driving in Pasini off of the hit from senior Justin Miller (Prospect, CT). Higgins continued his stellar play of the day with an RBI single to drive in Galenski. The Nittany Lions chipped into the Blazers lead, as a 2 run home run in the bottom third inning cut the deficit to 4-3 for Penn State-Brandywine. The Blazers would strike back the next inning, as Galenski drove in Cook off of a sacrifice fly to make the score 5-3 in favor of Elms. The Blazers did not let the Nittany Lions get back in the game, as senior Vinny Buono (Springfield, MA) came on in relief for Elms to pitch two shutout innings and record the win. In the top of the seventh, Elms cemented their win off of a Higgins RBI double and a sacrifice bunt by Levesque that drove in Higgins. Elms swept the doubleheader for the second straight day, and hope to keep their winning streak going during their next games.

UP NEXT: The Blazers will be back in action in Florida again on Friday March 8, with a doubleheader at 9:30 A.M. and 12 P.M. against Fitchburg State University.

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