WESTFIELD, Mass. – Seven different Owls' hitters recorded an RBI as the Westfield State baseball team defeated Elms College, 10-3, on a Wednesday afternoon from Bud and Jim Hagan Field in Westfield, Mass.
Westfield State improves to 15-11 with the victory while Elms drops to 11-14 on the year.
The Owls were forced to come from behind as the Blazers scored the first run of the game as senior Tyler Galenski (Wilbraham, Mass.) registered his team-leading 19th RBI of the year on a single to score sophomore AJ Cook (Mendon, Mass.).
After a scoreless first inning, the Owls rallied off an eight-run second inning beginning with senior Damien Maniscalco (Branford, Conn.) who singled to left field to drive in Casey Boudreau (Shrewsbury, Mass.) to tie the game. Zack Graveline (Prospect, Conn.) drew a walk to score another run followed by Nick Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) who connected on a run-scoring single to put the Owls up 3-1. First-year Justin Neidel (Attleboro, Mass.) kept the line moving with an RBI single through the right side to plate their fourth run of the game. Ethan Day (Meriden, Conn.) tacked on a run on a sacrifice fly and Boudreau got hit by a pitch to force in another run, making it a 6-1 Owls lead. Senior Jake Butler (Westfield, Mass.) capped off the rally with a two-out, two-run single to left centerfield to put an exclamation point on the frame.
The Blazers scrapped across two runs in the fifth inning, with Justin Miller (Prospect, Conn.) singling on a line drive to centerfield to score Alex DelCampo (Groton, Conn.). Elms was aggressive on the base paths throughout the game, including a double steal which led to a ball thrown into the outfield to score Aaron Young (Somers, Conn.) and trim the Owl lead to five runs, 8-3.
Westfield State had an answer in the bottom of the frame to put the game away, as Day wrapped a two-out double down the left-field line to score Martin and Neidel which was the final runs tallied in the contest.
Junior Luke Mathewson (Eastford, Conn.) (W, 1-0) picked up his first win of the season in his first start of the year, tossing five innings and allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits with three strikeouts. The Owls bullpen closed the game out with ease, with Joseph Fischer (Avon, Mass.), Sean Casey (Amston, Conn.) and Joe Espinola (Plymouth, Mass.) allowing just one hit in four combined innings.
Blazers' first-year pitcher Devin Kazarian (Westerly, R.I.) (L, 0-1) took the loss, surrendering eight runs on five hits in an inning of work.
Westfield State returns to conference play on Friday as the Owls travel to Salem State on Friday for a 3:30 P.M. start time before facing the Vikings in a doubleheader set on Saturday from Bud and Jim Hagan Field beginning at noon. Elms visits Norwich for a Saturday doubleheader with first-pitch slated for 1:00 P.M.