WESTFIELD, Mass. – Trey Faulkner (Springfield, Mass.) blasted the go-ahead, two-run home run to spark an eight-run fifth inning where Westfield State would run away with an 11-4 victory over Mass. Maritime in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference opener from Hagan Field in Westfield, Mass.
Faulkner and Nolan Florence (Chicopee, Mass.) launched bookend homers in the fifth as the Owls have now won six straight games, improving to 12-3 on the season and 1-0 within the conference. The Buccaneers drop to 7-9 on the year and 0-1 in the league.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the fifth frame, Thomas LaSpada (West Hartford, Conn.) began the inning with a leadoff single, which was followed by Faulkner who rocketed a ball on a line out to deep leftfield, clearing the fence to put the Owls in front 3-2.
Later in the inning, Robison Guerrero Baez (Dominican Republic) singled and Sam Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) drew a walk, setting up Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) who lashed a ball into the left-centerfield gap that carried all the way to the wall, scoring two runs to up the lead to 5-2.
Devin Slattery (Ware, Mass.) continued the scoring outburst with a line-drive single into left to plate two additional runs, then Florence punctuated the frame with a towering flyball that cleared the 400-foot mark in straightaway center to give Westfield a 9-2 lead after five frames.
Owls starting pitcher Ryan Lapierre (Pittsfield, Mass.) was sharp throughout the contest, finishing his outing by retiring six straight Buccaneer hitters to lock up his fourth win of the campaign. He gave up two first-inning unearned runs on five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts over six innings.
Mass. Maritime opened the scoring in the top half of the first, taking advantage of a two-out error which led to a two-RBI single from Michael Estrada (Covington, La.).
Buccaneers starter Chase Dwight (West Newbury, Mass.) was effective through the first four frames, allowing one run before getting into trouble in the fifth. He finished his outing by giving up six runs in 4.1 innings, allowing seven hits, three walks, and punching out three in a losing decision.
LaSpada pushed the Owls into double digit runs in the seventh with a two-RBI single. Brett Velzis (Cypress, Tex.) provided two runs in the ninth for Maritime on a single into centerfield.
Every starter for the Owls recorded a hit in the contest with multi-hit games from Palmer, Sean Clark (Dudley, Mass.), Slattery, and LaSpada.
Estrada led the Buccaneers with two hits and two RBI. Aidan Weir (Wallingford, Conn.) and AJ Pietrafesa (Harwinton, Conn.) both added two hits for Mass. Maritime as well.
The Owls and Buccaneers will face each other tomorrow in a doubleheader set from Buzzards Bay, Mass. starting at noon.