Kennedy, Anderson Collect Three Hits Each As Baseball Drops MASCAC Twinbill Decision At Westfield State

MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

Friday, April 28, 2017

Hagan Field, Westfield, Mass.

GAME #1 FINAL:          WESTFIELD STATE 10, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 2

GAME #2 FINAL:          WESTFIELD STATE 6, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 3

WESTFIELD, Mass. --  Junior John Lippincott’s (Barkhamsted, Conn.) two-run triple in the bottom of the fifth inning snapped a 2-2 tie as Westfield State completed a sweep of a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader from Massachusetts Maritime with a 6-3 nightcap triumph at Hagan Field.  Junior Nate Marshall (Winsted, Conn.) scattered seven hits and struck out four over six innings of work in a 10-2 opening game triumph for the Owls.

RBI singles by Lippincott and junior Alex Lafayette (Ludlow, Mass.) highlighted a three-run first inning uprising in the lid-lifter for the host Owls (26-6, 12-2 MASCAC), who scored their remaining seven runs on five hits and a pair of errors in the third.  A two-run homer by sophomore Anthony Crowley (Bellingham, Mass.) capped the rally that also featured Lippincott’s run-scoring double and an RBI single off the bat of senior Arismendy Larancuent (Westfield, Mass.), and Marshall took care of the rest on the mound in allowing one earned run to improve to 5-1 on the season.  The visiting Buccaneers (10-16, 5-9 MASCAC) plated both of their opening game runs in the top of the fifth on an error and an RBI single by sophomore Paul Sances (Middleboro, Mass.), as juniors Connor Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) and Nathan Anderson (East Longmeadow, Mass.) rapped out two hits each in the first game.  Freshman Andrew Auld (Wakefield, Mass.) allowed five earned runs and recorded a strikeout over the first three innings on the mound for Massachusetts Maritime to fall to 1-4 on the spring.

The Buccaneers grabbed a 2-0 third inning advantage in the nightcap on an RBI single by freshman Ethan O’Hare (Marshfield, Mass.) and a run-scoring groundout by senior Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.), but the Owls sliced that margin in half in the bottom of the frame on a wild pitch.  Senior Dan Rokitowski’s (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) sacrifice fly evened matters in the decisive fifth inning, as Lippincott followed with his two-run three-bagger for the hosts.  Westfield State tacked on two insurance tallies in the sixth on Larancuent’s RBI single and a run-scoring double by sophomore Tyler Beach (Quincy, Mass.), and Massachusetts Maritime had the tying run at the plate in the seventh after Kennedy drove in a run on a fielder’s choice but could come no closer to account for the final margin.

Larancuent had two of the Owls’ seven second game hits in support of junior Ray Bell (Grafton, Mass.), who allowed four hits and a pair of runs while fanning one over the first six innings to improve to 3-0 on the season.  Sophomore Jamie Butler (Waterbury, Conn.) worked out of the seventh inning jam to pick up his first save of the spring for Westfield State, which earlier in the week clinched the MASCAC regular season title.  Sophomore Robert Dembitzki (North Dartmouth, Mass.) joined Kennedy, O’Hare, Petruzzelli and Anderson in recording base hits in the nightcap setback for the Buccaneers, as freshman Matt Smith (Lowell, Mass.) allowed four hits and struck out five over five innings of work to fall to 1-2 on the season.

Massachusetts Maritime hosts Maine-Presque Isle in a non-league doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at 1:00 p.m., while Westfield State heads to Springfield, Mass. on Saturday afternoon to take on Western New England in a non-league contest that also begins at 1:00 p.m.