Baseball Falls 6-5 at Western New England
SPRINGFIELD, Mass--Western New England University junior Matt Anthonis (Guilford, CT) scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Golden Bears bullpen made it stand up to collect a 6-5 win over visiting Babson College in non-conference baseball action this afternoon at Trelease Park.
With the win, Western New England raises its record to 29-10 while Babson drops to 21-18.
McKelvey was the hitting star with a pair of doubles and three RBI. Senior relief pitcher Mike Lawlor (Windsor, CT) preserved the win with two scoreless innings allowing no hits with two strikeouts.
Babson scored two unearned runs in the second after junior center fielder Trevor Boyce (Canton, MA) knocked in a run with an infield single and junior third baseman Chris Kucher (Westwood, MA) walked with the bases loaded.
Western New England answered with four runs (three earned) in the third when Anthonis was safe on an error to score the first run. McKelvey followed with a two-run double and junior left fielder Taylor Perun (Plainville, CT) had a RBI single.
Junior designated hitter Conor Kortman (Manalapan, NJ) drove in a run with double to get the visitors within a run in the fifth before senior pinch-hitter Mike Taylor (Andover, MA) connected for a two-out RBI double to give WNE a 5-3 advantage after five innings.
Kuchar delivered a two-run double as the Beavers tied the contest in the sixth.
McKelvey made up for a pair of miscues by smacking a long double to center to drive in the winning run in the seventh.
Senior Mark DiTommaso (Hebron, CT) pitched the first five innings giving up seven hits and one earned run while walking four and striking out five.
Freshman Trevor Breton (Enfield, CT) went the next two innings to get the win and improve his mark to 6-1. He allowed three hits and two runs with a strikeout before Lawlor came in to get the final six outs.
Perun finished with two hits while Anthonis scored two runs.
Junior catcher Tom Booth (Milford, CT) contributed a hit and threw out a pair of runners attempting to steal, including senior right fielder Joe Nixon (Foxboro, MA) who was safe on an error to lead-off the eighth.
Babson collected 10 hits in the game, but stranded 10 runners.
Kortman reached base four times with a pair of doubles, single, and a hit by pitch. Boyce also had a two-hit outing.
Junior Steve Shaddock (Milford, CT) (2-2) allowed nine hits and six runs (five earned) in six-and-a-third innings with a walk and two strikeouts. Senior Rick Gilbody (Hanover, MA) walked one and fanned two in an inning-and-a-third.
Western New England will host Salve Regina at 3:00 p.m. Thursday (May 3) in a first-round game of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship. Babson visits Massachusetts Maritime on Tuesday (May 1).
