Baseball Rallies to Beat Western New England in Non-Conference Play

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Elms College Baseball team traveled to Western New England University for a non-conference game on Thursday afternoon.

BASICS
Score: Elms College 7 | Western New England University 6
Records: Blazers 10-20, 4-10 (GNAC) | Golden Bears 19-13, 6-5 (CNE)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Elms would have first year pitcher/outfielder Sal Ortiz (Springfield, Mass.) take the ball, where he would pitch three innings, with two strikeouts. The two teams would battle for the first run, which would see the Blazers offense record hits from senior outfielder George Chaya Jr. (Methuon, Mass.), senior infielder Felix Gutierrez (Holyoke, Mass.), and sophomore utility player Andrew Ciaglo (Hadley, Mass.), but would be held scoreless. In the bottom of the third inning, Western New England would score two runs to take the first lead. In the bottom of the fourth inning, junior pitcher Justin Saad (Waterford, Conn.) would come into the game and he would also pitch three innings, with two strikeouts. Then in the top of the sixth inning, Elms would load the bases and first year catcher Alex Baeta (Bellingham, Mass.) would score the first run on a passed ball, followed by a three-run home run to left field by senior outfielder Camron Watkins (East Haddam, Conn.) to take the lead 4-2. In the bottom of the seventh, sophomore pitcher/infielder Jayden Maynard (Enfield, Conn.) would come into the game to relieve Saad, where he would pitch two innings with two strikeouts. Unfortunately, the Golden Bears would take back the lead, adding three runs in the seventh and a run in the eighth. The Blazers would also see graduate student infielder AJ Cook (Mendon, Mass.) hit a single and steal second base, but would not be able to score. Then in the top of the ninth inning, the Elms bats would be awoken, as Chaya Jr. would hit a single for the first hit of the inning. Moments later, the Blazers would score three runs, after Baeta would hit a single to right field to drive-in Watkins, followed by Gutierrez hitting a sacrifice fly to score Chaya Jr., and a single from sophomore Griffen Levesque (Agawam, Mass.) to bring in junior infielder Chase Prestia (Newington, Conn.) to take the lead from WNEU 7-6. In the bottom of the ninth inning, junior pitcher Colby Arnold (Waterford, Conn.) would come into the game for the save, where he shutdown the Golden Bears in order with a strikeout to secure the victory for Elms 7-6.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Arnold: would pitch an inning, with a strikeout, to earn the save.

• Baeta: one for three, with a run scored, a run batted-in, and a walk.

• Chaya Jr.: two for five, with a run scored.

• Ciaglo: one for five.

• Cook: one for two, with a run scored, a stolen base, and three walks.

• Gutierrez: two for four, with a run scored and run batted-in.

• Levesque: one for four, with a run batted-in.

• Maynard: would pitch two innings, with a strikeout, to earn the win and would go 0 for four at the plate.

• Ortiz: would pitch three innings, with two strikeouts.

• Prestia: 0 for one, with a run scored.

• Saad: would pitch three innings, with two strikeouts.

• Watkins: one for two, with a home run, two runs scored, and three runs batted-in.

UP NEXT: The Elms Baseball team will host Mitchell in a conference doubleheader and their annual senior day on Sunday, April 27th at 1 & 3:30 pm.

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