Martin Laces Walk-Off, Owls Battle Past Bears, 8-7

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior outfielder Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) laced a walk-off single down the left field line to send the Owls to an 8-7 win over Coast Guard Academy in a non-conference game on Wednesday afternoon from Hagan Field in Westfield, Mass.

The Owls pick up consecutive victories in as many days, improving to 14-5 overall while the Bears fall to 12-7 on the season.

With the game tied entering the bottom of the ninth, the Owls completed their first walk off win of the season. Nick Marshall (Reading, Mass.) led off the inning with a leadoff single into right field, then Dan Burnett (Granville, Mass.) lashed a base hit through the left side of the infield, putting pinch runner Jeremiah Bobbi (Lebanon, Conn.) in scoring position as the winning run.

With one out and runners on first and second, Martin stepped to the plate, and on the first pitch of the at bat, drilled a grounder down the left field line, scoring Bobbi without a play to send the Owls to victory.

The Owls were forced to come from behind, then hold on in the later innings to preserve today's win. Trailing 4-0 with just two hits entering the sixth inning, the Westfield offense began to pick up steam.

Momentum changed with two outs in the home half of the sixth as pinch hitter Stephen Carrozza (Pearl River, N.Y.) lined a two-out single back up the middle, scoring both Chase Racine (Pittsfield, Mass.) and Colin Ryan (North Chelmsford, Mass.) to shave the deficit in half to 4-2 after six.

In the seventh inning, the Owls strung together one of their signature rallies to pull ahead. A Bears error followed by a single and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out. Marshall pounded a ground ball to first base, scoring Nick Lenfest (Westfield, Mass.) to make it a one-run game. Burnett followed and put Westfield in front, tagging a line drive base hit into left field to plate two runs for a 5-4 lead.

Three batters later, John Nickerson (Chelmsford, Mass.) provided a pair of valuable insurance runs, dropping a fly ball into centerfield to bring in two additional runs to punctuate the five-run frame.

The Bears clawed their way back into the game, scoring two runs in the eighth on a walk, then a sacrifice fly from Rick Barkley (Bellevue, Wash.) cut it to a one run ballgame. With the bases full and only one out, Owls reliver Michael Hall (Westfield, Mass.) kept them in front with a strikeout then a fly out.

In the top half of the ninth, Coast Guard found a seventh run to tie the game after a one-out double from Carson Cho (Haymarket, Va.). Westfield was able to limit the damage again with the go-ahead run in scoring position, this time forcing a flyout then a pop up where Burnett made a difficult grab up against the fence in foul territory.

Charlie Walsh (Medfield, Mass.) picked up his fourth win of the season. Senior Dominic Novio (Mansfield, Mass.) got the start for the Owls, allowing four runs on nine hits 3.2 innings. He walked three and fanned four.

Coast Guard threw six different arms in a scheduled bullpen day. John DiMarsico (Severna Park, Md.), Harrison Milbert (Kingston, Mass.), and Jackson Dorsey (Newark, Del.) combined to hold the Owls to just two hits over the first five innings before the Westfield bats got in rhythm. Ryan Karman (Sayville, N.Y.) was shouldered with the loss after allowing the winning run to score in the ninth.

Brendan Goonan (Raynham, Mass.) and Dan Provost (Westfield, Mass.) gave the Owls a chance to comeback with the duo combining to throw 3.1 hitless innings in the middle third of the game.

Westfield will jump back into MASCAC action on Friday as the Owls will travel to Worcester State for a doubleheader beginning at 2:00 P.M. where Westfield will play as the home team and bat last due to forecasted inclement weather this weekend. Schedule updates are available at WestfieldStateOwls.com.