Western New England Splits with Roger Williams on Senior Day

Kawiecki extends scoreless streak to 22 innings with six shutout frames in game two

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 23, 2017) – The Western New England University baseball team split a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader with Roger Williams University on Sunday afternoon at Trelease Park. After being shut out 3-0 in the opener, the Golden Bears rolled to a 12-0 triumph in game two.

Western New England honored seniors Daniel Morin (Salem, N.H.), Jacques Boilard (Brimfield, Mass.), Andrew Mulvey (Bristol, R.I.) and Matt Thomas (Plainville, Conn.) and junior Carmen Caruso (Niskayuna, N.Y.) in a ceremony between the two games.

Roger Williams 3, Western New England 0

Top Performers
• Junior Jared Rosenblatt (Avon, Conn.) and sophomores Aaron Rios (Stratford, Conn.) and Joe Cassella (Wallingford, Conn.) recorded one hit each for the Golden Bears.
• Mulvey struck out three batters during two perfect innings of relief.

• Roger Williams junior left-hander Sam Bennett (Andover, Mass.) turned in a complete game shutout performance, striking out seven batters and allowing just three hits over seven innings.
• Senior Bryan Terzian (Westport, Conn.) led the Hawks at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double and one run scored, while junior Sean Gaffney (Simsbury, Conn.) and sophomore Eli Camner (Hamden) both recorded RBI singles.

Game Review
• Roger Williams recorded four hits in the first inning, including RBI singles by Camner and Gaffney, as the Hawks opened up an early 3-0 lead.
• Rios legged out an infield single with two outs in the bottom of the second for Western New England's first hit of the game.
• Bennett retired the next nine batters in a row, before Rosenblatt singled through the left side of the infield with two outs in the fifth. Cassella followed with a single to right field, but both runners were stranded on base as Bennett struck out the final batter of the inning.
• Mulvey came on in relief of Thomas in the fifth and retired all six batters he faced in order, recording three strikeouts.
• Bennett worked around a leadoff walk in the sixth before capping his complete game performance with a 1-2-3 seventh. 

Western New England 12, Roger Williams 0

Top Performers
• Junior Jake Kawiecki (Burlington, Conn.) turned in yet another impressive performance on the mound, as he struck out five batters and surrendered just two hits over six shutout frames to improve to 3-1 this season.
• Sophomore Alex Loparco (Riverside, Conn.) went 2-for-4 at the plate with a walk and three RBI, while Morin doubled twice and scored three runs.
• Sophomore catcher Brian Valeriano (Stratford, Conn.) also posted a three-hit effort with two RBI and two runs scored.

Game Review
• Western New England opened the scoring in the bottom of the second with RBI singles by Rios and Valeriano to claim a 2-0 lead.
• The Golden Bears extended their advantage to 6-0 with four more runs in the third. Loparco led off with a walk, before eventually coming around to score on a wild pitch. Later in the frame, Cassella beat out an infield single with two outs, allowing sophomore Ben LaCroix (Branford, Conn.) to cross the plate. Valeriano followed with a run-scoring double to right center field, his second RBI of the game.
• Loparco (two-run single) and LaCroix (RBI single) came through with a pair of two-out hits in the fifth as Western New England's lead reached 9-0.
• The Golden Bears added three more runs in the sixth to extend the final margin to 12-0.

Notes
• After tossing six shutout frames in game two, Kawiecki has not allowed a run to score over his last 22 innings of work. The junior's earned run average now sits at 1.41, good for fourth in the CCC.
• The Golden Bears' 17 hits in game two match their second highest total this season.  

Up Next
Western New England (19-12, 8-6 CCC) is off until Thursday, when the Golden Bears travel to Brandeis for a non-conference contest. Roger Williams (11-23, 4-8 CCC) will be on the road at Trinity on Wednesday.