WESTFIELD, Mass. – Four Westfield State pitchers combined for a shutout and Justin Neidel (Attleboro, Mass.) tallied two hits and two RBI to lead the Owls to a 6-0 victory over University of Northwestern (Minn.) from Vero Beach, Florida on Thursday afternoon.
The Owls finish their Florida trip with a victory, improving to 8-3 on the season including a 5-2 record in the Sunshine State. The Eagles fall to 3-9 on the year.
Westfield got on the board in the first inning as Devin Slattery (Ware, Mass.) brought home Sam Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) on a ground out to shortstop.
After three scoreless frames from starter Ryan Donahue (Medfield, Mass.) the Owls posted a crooked number in the bottom half of the third. After a pair of singles by Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Palmer, Neidel pushed the Owls lead to three runs with a two-RBI single to center. The Owls then capitalized on a pair of Eagles errors later in the inning, scoring two more runs to extend the lead to 5-0 after three frames.
Thomas LaSpada (West Hartford, Conn.) tacked on a sixth run for the Owls with a run-scoring single to left as the six runs scored in the game would be more than enough for an Owls pitching staff that allowed only six hits for the entire contest.
Donahue pitched the first four frames, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out five, turning the game over to Sean Casey (Amston, Conn.) for the fifth where he would eventually pick up his second victory of the season.
Over the next three innings, Sean McNamara (Lowell, Mass.) continued to shut down the Eagles bats, allowing only one hit while fanning six of the nine outs recorded. Joe Espinola (Plymouth, Mass.) secured the combined shutout with a flyout to left to end the game. The 12 punchouts from Owls pitching tied a season high.
Nick Drinken (Randolph, Minn.) got the start for Northwestern, tossing 6.1 innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits with five strikeouts.
The Owls will return to Westfield and will host their home opener on Tuesday, March 19 against Elms College at 3:30 P.M. from Hagan Field in Westfield, Mass.