MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

Friday, March 18, 2016

Commodore Hendy Field, Buzzards Bay, Mass.

FINAL:              MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 8, CLARK 3

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  Junior Tommy Walls (Hawthorne, N.J.) rapped out a career-high four hits to lead Massachusetts Maritime to an 8-3 non-league college baseball victory over Clark Friday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field.

The host Buccaneers (3-4) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning of their home opener on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Logan Sullo (Acushnet, Mass.) and an RBI single off the bat of freshman Kevin Troy (Braintree, Mass.), but the visiting Cougars (6-8) used a three-run rally in the top of the fourth on a run-scoring double by junior Tyler Hutchinson (Greene, Maine) that was followed by a two-run two-bagger by sophomore Teddy Downing (Cambridge, Mass.) to take their lone lead of the afternoon.  Senior Everett Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass.) two-out RBI double off of his brother, Clark sophomore starter Conor Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass.), plated Walls to give Massachusetts Maritime the lead for good at 4-3 in the bottom of the frame, and the Buccaneers extended that margin to 6-3 in the sixth on run-scoring singles off the bats of sophomores Casey Furnas (Boca Raton, Fla.) and William Keane (Braintree, Mass.) that were followed by an RBI groundout by Everett Walsh.

The Cougars threatened in the top of the seventh after a pair of one out walks, but freshman Brian Kwedor (Marshfield, Mass.) induced a fly ball and a ground out that enabled Massachusetts Maritime to escape the jam with its three-run lead.  The hosts iced their triumph with single tallies in the seventh and eighth frames on respective RBI singles by Walls and junior Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.) that closed out the scoring and gave first-year Head Coach Mike Kelley a win in his inaugural home contest.

Walls and Everett Walsh keyed an 11-hit Buccaneer attack on the day in support of Brian Kwedor, who earned his first career victory with three scoreless innings and three strikeouts in relief of his brother Kevin (Marshfield, Mass.), who allowed five hits and three runs while fanning three over the first four frames for Massachusetts Maritime.  Brian Kwedor and senior Kyle Kennedy (Woodbury, Conn.) held Clark hitless over the final five innings of action, as senior Michael Eglow (Delmar, N.Y.) and sophomores Kyle Bonicki (Waterbury, Conn.) and Mikey Thomson (Northampton, Mass.) joined Hutchinson and Downing with hits for the visitors.  Conor Walsh allowed six hits and six runs while striking out a pair in five-plus innings of action for the Cougars, falling to 1-4 overall on the season.

Massachusetts Maritime hosts Thomas in a non-league doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at 1:30 p.m., while Clark entertains Elms in a non-league outing tomorrow afternoon in Worcester, Mass. that begins at 3:30 p.m.