Hamel Shines as Golden Bears Eliminate Penn State Berks From NCAA Regional, 4-1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Western New Eng. | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
|
Penn St.-Berks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
Junior lefty strikes out nine and allows one run over seven innings
HARWICH, Mass. (May 18, 2018) – The Western New England University baseball team kept it is run at the NCAA Tournament New England Regional going with a 4-1 victory over Penn State Berks in an elimination contest on Friday morning at Whitehouse Field.
Following the win, Western New England (32-14) advances to Saturday's action to face the loser of tonight's Keystone/Oswego State contest at 1 p.m. Penn State Berks' loss ends the Nittany Lions season at 25-12.
Top Performers
Junior left-hander Bob Hamel (Southwick, Mass.) was dominant on the mound, as he struck out nine batters and surrendered just one unearned run on four hits over seven innings to improve to 7-0 this season.
Senior infielder Jared Rosenblatt (Avon, Conn.) and sophomore outfielder Jamie Schofield (Darien, Conn.) led the Golden Bears offensively, as they both walked and doubled while combining for five of Western New England's eight base hits.
Penn State Berks senior right-hander Tyler Comport (Boyertown, Pa.) gave up three runs (one earned) on four hits over 5.1 frames, but he issued nine walks.
Sophomore infielder Dante Salerno (Lehighton, Pa.) had two hits for the Nittany Lions.
Game Review
Western New England struck for two runs in the top of the first inning and led for the remainder of the contest. The Golden Bears loaded the bases as Joe Cassella (Wallingford, Conn.) sandwiched a single between walks for Alex Loparco (Riverside, Conn.) and Ben LaCroix (Branford, Conn.). Rosenblatt came up next and grounded to short, but an errant throw to second base allowed two runs to score.
The Golden Bears added to their lead with a run in the fourth, as junior Brian Valeriano (Stratford, Conn.) led off with a walk before eventually coming in to score when Loparco grounded into a double play with the bases loaded.
Hamel cruised through the first four frames and didn't allow a hit until Salerno singled to center field with one out in the fifth.
Penn State Berks plated its only run the following inning, but Hamel and the trio of Jeff Zebrowski (South Hadley, Mass.), Patrick Westerlind (Auburn, Mass.) and Sean Halligan (North Branford, Conn.) combined to shut the Nittany Lions down over the final three frames.
