Big Third Inning Fuels Golden Bears’ 17-0 Victory Over Keene State in Home Opener

Lacaire records career-high five RBI for Western New England

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 7, 2017) – Playing at home for the first time this spring, the Western New England University baseball team put 12 runs on the board in the third inning and rolled to a 17-0 shutout victory over Keene State College on Friday afternoon in non-conference action at Trelease Park.  

Top Performers                                                                                                          
• Sophomore outfielder Erik Lacaire (Worcester, Mass.) led Western New England's offensive onslaught, going 2-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored and five RBI.
• Sophomores Joe Cassella (Wallingford, Conn.) and Aaron Rios (Stratford, Conn.) recorded three hits each, while freshman Zac Nussbaum (Bridgewater, Mass.) walked, singled, and drove in three runs.
• Junior Jake Kawiecki (Burlington, Conn.) got the start for the Golden Bears and struck out two batters over three shutout innings, while senior Jason Montanaro (North Kingstown, R.I.) picked up his first career victory with a scoreless inning of relief.

Game Review
• After recording a single in each of the first two innings, Western New England erupted for 12 runs on nine hits and one error in the bottom of the third. Cassella led off the frame with a single through the left side of the infield, and junior catcher Steve Rivela (Hudson, Mass.) followed with a single to left field. Sophomore infielder Alex Loparco (Riverside, Conn.) came up next and drove a ball deep to center field that Keene State junior Zach Rollins (Stafford Springs, Conn.) nearly snagged with an over the shoulder catch, forcing Rivela and Cassella to hold at second and third base, respectively.
• With the bases loaded, Lacaire delivered a two-run single to right field to open the scoring. Later in the inning, Nussbaum plated two more runs with a single to right field, before Rios and junior Jared Rosenblatt (Avon, Conn.) followed with RBI hits to make it 6-0.
• Cassella recorded an RBI single in his second at-bat of the inning, and five other Golden Bears would cross the plate after that point as Western New England claimed a 12-0 advantage.
• Lacaire drove in two more runs with a single up the middle in the fourth, and the home team capped the scoring with three more runs in the sixth.

Notes
• Western New England recorded 19 hits in the contest, with six Golden Bears posting multi-hit performances.
• Western New England's six pitchers limited Keene State to just four hits.
• The Golden Bears have scored 10+ runs three times this season, including twice this week.

Up Next
Western New England (10-7) will host Nichols College for a doubleheader tomorrow at 1 p.m., with the Bison batting second as the home team. The Golden Bears will then welcome Wentworth to Trelease Park for another CCC doubleheader on Sunday at noon. Keene State (8-11) travels to UMass Dartmouth for a pair of LEC contests tomorrow.