NO. 3 THOMAS ROLLS PAST NO.
2 ELMS COLLEGE
IN NORTH ATLANTIC TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
CHICOPEE, MA, May 2, 2008 - Thomas freshman pitcher Andrew Martin (Rochester, MA) struck out 15 batters in 8.0 innings of work and the No. 3 Terriers used a four-run, sixth inning to pull away to a 9-3 win over No. 2 Elms College in the first round of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Baseball Tournament on Friday evening at Szot Park.
With the win, Thomas (12-17) advances to Saturday's 2:00 p.m. winners bracket game to face No. 4 Husson, which pulled a 5-3 upset over No. 1 Castleton in Friday's other first round game.
Elms College will meet Castleton in Saturday's 10:00 a.m. elimination game.
Martin was sensational for the Terriers, as he threw five shutout innings before yielding RBI doubles to freshman second baseman Hector Roche (San Cristobal, Dominican Republic) and junior right fielder Nick Mackowiak (Dudley, MA) in the sixth inning.
The Terriers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead following RBI doubles in the first and second innings by sophomore third baseman Tom Desjardins (Fort Kent, ME) and freshman left fielder Scott Geel (Calais, ME).
Thomas then broke the game open in the sixth with sophomore second baseman Ryan Cotnoir's (Augusta, ME) RBI single, a two-run double to left center field by junior shortstop Jared Fieldsend (Somersworth, NH) and junior center fielder Mike Chamard's (Livermore Falls, ME) RBI single to right field.
The Terriers would eventually tack on three more runs in the eighth to punch their ticket to Saturday's winners bracket game.
Roche went 2 for 3 with two RBI and a run scored as the only Elms College player to have more than one hit.