WESTFIELD, Mass. – Dominic Novio (Mansfield, Mass.) fronted a group of six Owls pitchers that allowed a total of six hits and zero earned runs as Westfield State held off the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.), 4-2 in a non-conference game on Tuesday afternoon from Dunkin' Park in Hartford, Conn.
The Owls and Blue Jays played today's game in the home stadium of the Hartford Yard Goats, the Double-A affiliate of the Major League Colorado Rockies baseball team. Both teams faced each other last season from Dunkin' Park as well in an exhibition game, as this year's contest counted towards the Owls regular season.
Novio struck out six Blue Jays hitters over four innings as the Owls improve to 19-9 on the season. He gave up one unearned run on four hits. Saint Joseph falls to 11-16-1 on the year.
With Novio striking out the side in the first inning, the Owls carried that momentum into the top half of the second, using timely two-out hitting to take the lead. With a runner on first with two outs, Robison Guerrero Baez (Dominican Republic) continued his hot stretch at the plate, ripping an RBI triple to right field to put the Owls on the board.
Baez collected two hits and scored twice for the Owls, registering six hits over the last two days.
Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) continued the two-out rally by singling home Baez to give Westfield a 2-0 advantage. Martin tallied a three-hit afternoon for the Owls.
The Owls extended the lead to three runs in the third inning with more two-out hitting leading to a run, this time from Sam Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) who punched a single into centerfield to bring home Martin.
Five relievers followed Novio's outing, combining to allow only two hits over the final five frames. Sean Casey (Amston, Conn.) picked up the win after a scoreless fifth inning.
The Blue Jays picked up a run in the fourth inning to make it a two-run game, then in the sixth inning, Jacob Lucas (Rutland, Mass.) knocked a run-scoring single into centerfield to up the lead to 4-1.
Saint Joseph threatened to put up a crooked number in the seventh inning after a sacrifice fly from JJ Fox (Killingworth, Conn.) cut the Owls lead to two runs. Later in the inning, the Blue Jays put runners on second and third with one out, but Owls righthander Charlie Walsh (Medfield, Mass.) was able to work out of the jam, striking out the next batter and then forcing a fly out to right to end the frame.
Joe Fischer (Avon, Mass.) and Joe Espinola (Plymouth, Mass.) slammed the door on the Jays in the eighth and ninth innings, retiring the side in order in both frames to send the Owls to victory. Espinola tallied his second save of the season.
Westfield State will prepare for an important upcoming MASCAC series as the Owls (7-3 MASCAC) will host Framingham State (5-3 MASCAC) on Friday at 3:30 P.M. from Hagan Field for game one of a three-game set.