Owls Use Eighth Inning Rally to Defeat Hartford, 4-3

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior pitcher Jack Novak (Colchester, Conn.) struck out eight Hartford hitters over six innings as the Owls scored three runs in the eighth inning to rally past Hartford 4-3 in a non-conference road game from West Hartford, Conn. on Wednesday afternoon.

The Owls have now won eight of their last nine games, improving to 9-2 on the season while the Hawks fall to an even 7-7.

In contrast to how many of Westfield's games have gone this season, the Owls offense took time to find its rhythm, relying on the pitching to keep them in the game. The staff did just that as Novak posted five shutout innings, allowing the Owls to move in front in the sixth inning after a one-out solo home run from Jonathan Toth (Granby, Mass.) tallied the first run of the game for either side.

Novak's lone blemish came in the bottom half of the sixth as a two-out error led to the Hawks scoring to tie the game at one run apiece. Novak got a flyout on the next Hartford batter, ending his outing while delivering an outstanding line: six innings pitched, one unearned run, six hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts.

Hartford pulled ahead in the next inning with additional two-out hitting, this time coming from Jackson Ciccone (Danbury, Conn.) who's RBI double to left brought in the go-ahead run.

The Owls offense was quiet early on as Luke Rier (Miami, Fla.) and Sam Smith (Branford, Conn.) kept Westfield hitless through the first five frames. Trailing by a run entering the eighth inning, the Owls plate discipline led to a rally.

Colin Ryan (Pittsfield, Mass.) drew a leadoff walk which was followed by another walk from Toth, putting two runners aboard with nobody out. Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) followed and laid down a perfectly placed bunt to reach first, loading the bases with nobody retired.

Westfield feasted on several Hawks miscues in the inning, the first being a wild pitch which allowed Ryan to cross the plate to tie the game. A Sam Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) free pass reloaded the bases where Dan Burnett (Granville, Mass.) would drill a ground ball to the left side of the infield, reaching on an error which scored the Owls third run of the game. A RBI from Devin Slattery (Ware, Mass.) on a fielder's choice proved to be a critical insurance run as the Owls took a 4-2 lead into the home half of the eighth.

Charlie Walsh (Medfield, Mass.) was excellent again in a setup role for the Owls, retiring the side in order with a pair of punchouts where he would eventually pick up the winning decision as Westfield maintained a two-run lead heading into the last inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Hawks initiated a comeback attempt. A leadoff double from Nico Digioia (Hamden, Conn.) got the inning started, then a flyout advanced him to third base. JJ Romatzick (Stratford, Conn.) stepped in next and cut the Hartford deficit in half with a single, making it a 4-3 game with the tying run on first with one out.

With the tying run on second, Michael Hall (Westfield, Mass.) worked his way out of trouble with the help of a heads-up play from Toth at shortstop who got a ground ball hit slightly to his left where he would fire the ball to Slattery at third to cut down the lead runner. Then with two down and a runner on first, Hall forced Ciccone to ground out to Slattery to end the game and secure his third save of the campaign.

The Owls pitching staff put forth one of their best efforts of the season as a combined staff, giving up just two extra base hits all game.

Westfield State will have a few days off before preparing for their next opponent which comes on Sunday as the Owls visit Springfield College for a doubleheader starting at 12:00 P.M.