WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State first-year Samuel Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) and senior Matt Motyka (Vernon, Conn.) provided a pair of early home runs as the Owls defeated Amherst College 7-2 on Tuesday afternoon from Memorial Field in Amherst, Mass.
The Owls, which have won five of their last six games, improves to 11-6 on the season, while Amherst College falls to 5-10 with the setback.
Palmer followed up his conference player of the week nomination by jumpstarting the Owls offense in the opening frame, tagging a line-drive two-run shot over the left-center field wall to put Westfield up 2-0.
The Owls continued to flex their power at the dish as Motyka launched a two-out solo home run to left field to add another run on the board, and give the Owls 19 home runs in 17 games played.
Amherst was held scoreless through the first five innings of the game, in part to the strong performance by Owls starting pitcher Ryan Donahue (Medfield, Mass.) who, despite walking six hitters in the contest, kept the Mammoths off the scoreboard. He tossed five innings and allowed two hits to go along with three strikeouts.
The Mammoths tallied their first run of the game in the sixth off the bat of junior Jackson Reydel (Marion, Mass.) who belted a solo shot to left to cut the Owls lead to 3-1.
The Owls earned that run back in the top half of the eighth inning with another two-out RBI, this time off the bat of senior Ethan Day (Meriden, Conn.), who delivered with a run-scoring single to left field to put the Owls up 4-1.
Luke Padian (Katonah, N.Y.) made it a two run game in the bottom of the inning with a two-out hit of his own, lacing a drive to center field to score Ryan McIntyre (Larchmont, N.Y.).
Westfield added three insurance runs in ninth frame with Damien Maniscalco (Branford, Conn.) and Palmer each scoring on wild pitches while Nolan Florence (Chicopee, Mass.) added an RBI on a hit-by-pitch to plate Nick Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.).
The Mammoths began the bottom of the ninth inning with back-to-back walks to put some pressure on the Owls. Westfield went to the bullpen to call upon sophomore Joe Espinola (Plymouth, Mass.) to convert on the save opportunity. He did just that, fanning the first two batters faced, allowing a hit and then forcing a fly out to Martin to seal the victory and convert his first save of the season.
Donahue (W, 2-0) secured his second win in three starts for the Owls, while lowering his earned run average to 3.33 in 24.1 innings pitched. Amherst starter Sam Robin (Westport, Conn.) took the loss for the Mammoths, covering 4.2 innings of work and allowing three runs on four hits with six strikeouts.
Day and Motyka provided multi-hit games for the Owls, while Mammoths' designated hitter Jack Dove (Norwalk, Conn.) recorded two hits, one of which went for a double.
Westfield State returns to conference play starting on Friday where the Owls host Mass. Maritime for game one of a three-game series at 3:30 P.M. from Bud and Jim Hagan Field in Westfield, Mass. The Owls will travel to Mass. Maritime to play games two and three in a doubleheader set on Saturday. Amherst hosts Hamilton in NESCAC action beginning Friday at 4:00 P.M.