Western New England Slugs its Way to 17-2 Victory at Suffolk

Kawiecki allows one hit over five frames, stretching scoreless streak to 16 innings

BOSTON, Mass. (April 18, 2017) – Six players posted multi-hit efforts as the Western New England University baseball team slugged its way to a 17-2 victory over Suffolk University on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action at East Boston Memorial Park.

Top Performers
• Senior first baseman Daniel Morin (Salem, N.H.) led the way for a Western New England offense that recorded 17 hits, going 3-for-3 at the plate with two walks, a double, a home run and five RBI. With his five RBI effort, Morin reached the 100-RBI mark for his career, becoming the 15th Golden Bear to accmplish the feat.
• Sophomore outfielder Erik Lacaire (Worcester, Mass.) doubled twice and drove in four runs, while classmate Ben LaCroix (Branford, Conn.) went 2-for-4 with a double, three RBI and two runs scored.
• Junior right-hander Jake Kawiecki (Burlington, Conn.) gave up just one hit and struck out four batters during his five innings of work to improve to 2-1 this season.

• Senior Kevin Belskie (Norristown, Pa.) and sophomore Tommy Shimchak (Ramsey, N.J.) recorded one RBI each for Suffolk in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.

Game Review
• Western New England set the tone for the contest in the first inning, plating three runs and never looking back. Morin got it started with a two-run double, before coming in to score on an RBI single by sophomore Aaron Rios (Stratford, Conn.).
• Morin led off the third with a solo home run to make it 3-0, and the Golden Bears went up 5-0 the following inning on a two-run single by sophomore Alex Loparco (Riverside, Conn.).
• Western New England broke the game open in the top of the sixth, sending 15 men to the plate and scoring nine runs on eight hits. After the first three batters reached base, LaCroix recorded an RBI single, ending the day for Suffolk junior left-hander Worth Walrod (Dedham, Mass.). Morin came up with the bases still loaded and drove in two more runs with a single, while Lacaire followed with a two-run double. Rios and sophomore Joe Cassella (Wallingford, Conn.) also recorded one RBI in the frame, before LaCroix's two-run double capped the big inning.
• Belskie got the Rams on the board in the seventh with an RBI groundout.
• Lacaire drove in Western New Englands 16^th and 17^th runs with a double in the top of the eighth, before Suffolk added one final run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Shimchak. 

Notes
• Kawiecki, who lowered his earned run average to 1.73 with today's performance, has lasted 5+ innings in four of his five starts this season. The junior has not given up a run in his last 16 innings of work.
• Suffolk entered the contest with an 11-1 record in April.
• Western New England has scored 10+ runs six times this season.

Up Next
Western New England (17-10) will be off until Friday, when the Golden Bears travel to Westfield State for another non-conference contest at 3 p.m. Suffolk (16-8) will look to bounce back on Thursday, as the Rams host Curry at 4 p.m.