MILTON, Mass. - Curry College and Western New England University split a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon in Milton. Curry took the opener, 1-0, then Western New England bounced back in the nightcap, 12-3.
GAME ONE
The scoring was opened in the bottom half of the first inning when sophomore Brian Burke (Swampscott, Mass.) singled to right center scoring classmate Alex McLean (Eliot Maine) who walked prior to Burke's at bat.
That would be the only scoring of the game as it came to a 1-0 final after senior Thomas Fitzpatrick (South Boston, Mass.) went all seven innings, only letting up five hits and two walks while striking out another two.
Junior David Cherry (Southbury, Conn.) would also go the distance for WNE going six full giving up the lone earned run on three hits while striking out six and allowing only one walk.
GAME TWO
The second game had more scoring than the first, with WNE jumping out in the first inning scoring twice. Senior Steve Buckley (Monroe, Conn.) grounded into a double play, but the bases were loaded and junior Kevin Marciano (Pepperell, Mass.) scampered home for the first run of the game ending the scoreless tie. Sophomore Dan Morin (Salem, N.H.) singled in senior Matt Anziano (Belchertown, Mass.) who advanced to third on the double play and walked in his first at bat.
Curry came back in the home half of the inning getting one back off the bat of freshman Evan Morris (Pembroke, Mass.) who singled in junior John Arens (Milton, Mass.) who reached on an error. After an uneventful second inning the score was 2-1 in favor of the Golden Bears.
In the top half of the third, the bases were loaded, and Morin got hit by a pitch and it drove in Anziano who also got hit with a pitch earlier in the inning. Junior Eduardo Colmenares (Caracas, Venezuela) followed Morin with a fielder's choice which plated junior Doug Milne (Nesconset, N.Y.) who singled himself. Morin and Colmenares would both score unearned on an error and a wild pitch respectively making the score 6-1 after two and a half.
The scoring would resume in the bottom of the fourth with junior Phil Perez (West Covina, Calif.) singling. Freshman Will De La Cruz (Bronx, N.Y.) would later ground out but not before Perez came home scoring for the Colonels. Following De La Cruz, junior Kyle Connors (Stoughton, Mass.) reached on an error and scored sophomore Nick Crivello (Blackstone, Mass.) who doubled to right after Perez. After four full, the score was 6-3.
In the following inning, WNE kept the bats going getting four more runs, three of which came from a double from junior Connor Hayes (Bristol, Conn.) to right-center. Marciano would later single and bring Hayes home pushing the score to 10-3.
The Golden Bears would get two more runs over the last two innings, one from Milne in the sixth who singled to score Anziano and another from Hayes who grounded out but scored junior Chris Casey (Milford, Mass.) pulling WNE ahead 12-3 which would end up being the final score.
Sophomore Vincent LoPriore (Boston, Mass.) took the loss going five innings giving up 10 runs, nine of them earned, on seven hits and four walks. He struck out four. The other two runs were charged to freshmen classmates Matt Hailey (Weymouth, Mass.) and David Waite (Walpole, Mass.).
Junior Tom Mahoney had a complete game going all seven innings giving up five hits, three runs, only two earned, and a walk while striking out two.
The Colonels are now 14-8 on the season and 6-3 in the conference. Curry will travel to Endicott College tomorrow for another CCC doubleheader starting at noon.
The Golden Bears move to 12-14 overall and 9-5 in league play. They are set to host Wentworth Institute of Technology for another CCC doubleheader tomorrow starting at noon.
