MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Commodore Hendy Field, Buzzards Bay, Mass.

FINAL:              MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 4, NEWBURY 2

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  Freshman Alex Rozak’s (Plymouth, Mass.) pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning snapped a 2-2 tie and led Massachusetts Maritime to a 4-2 non-league college baseball victory over Newbury Thursday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field.

The host Buccaneers (7-5), who have now won five of their last six outings, plated single runs in their first two at-bats on a first inning throwing error and a second inning sacrifice fly by senior Brendan O’Kane (Pocasset, Mass.) to take the early advantage.  The visiting Nighthawks (7-9) sliced their deficit in half in the sixth on a run-scoring infield single off the bat of junior Michael Perillo (Mansfield, Mass.) before evening matters in the eighth on junior Cameron D’Agostino’s (North Haven, Conn.) two out RBI single to set the stage for Massachusetts Maritime’s decisive rally in the bottom of the frame.  Junior Greg Downs (Marshfield, Mass.) led off with a double and advanced to third on a single by fellow junior William Cooksey (Richmond, Tex.) that put runners on the corners with one out, and Rozak laced a single up the middle to plate Downs with the tie-breaking tally.  O’Kane drove in his second run of the day by plating Cooksey on a fielder’s choice groundout, and junior Zac Cooney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) made that stand up in the top of the ninth for the Buccaneers by retiring the side to collect his first save.

Downs picked up two of Massachusetts Maritime’s eight hits on the afternoon, as freshman Daniel Avery (Milford, Mass.) earned his first collegiate victory on the mound for the Buccaneers in allowing an earned run and fanning five over three innings in relief of junior Tyler Smith (Bellingham, Mass.), who scattered five hits over the first five scoreless frames.  D’Agostino went 3-for-4 to pace Newbury’s nine-hit attack at the plate, as the Nighthawks also received a pair of hits off the bat of junior Steven Broy (Gorham, Maine).  Junior Ryan Sinclair (Portsmouth, R.I.) suffered the setback on the mound for the visitors in falling to 1-1 on the spring, as he was touched for two runs over two innings of work in relief of senior Travis Wade (Portland, Maine), who allowed a pair of unearned runs and struck out five over six innings.

Massachusetts Maritime hosts Worcester State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at Noon, while Newbury travels to Bennington, Vt. on Saturday afternoon to square off with Southern Vermont in a New England Collegiate Conference twinbill that begins at 1:00 p.m.