Baseball Wins Final Game of Florida Schedule
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Western New Eng. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 1 |
|
TCNJ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
WINTER HAVEN, Florida (March 18, 2022) – The Western New England baseball team came out with a victory on Friday morning into the early afternoon hour to complete their 2022 Florida schedule with a 4-2 record. CJ Willis sent out his fourth home run of the season in the win, going 3-5 with two RBIs.
Records:
- Western New England: 6-2
- TCNJ: 3-4
How it Happened:
The Golden Bears would quickly be sent down 1-2-3 in the top half of the first innings as they looked to pick up their fourth victory in six games on their spring break trip. The Golden Bears took on the Lions of The College of New Jersey. The Lions were able to get rolling quickly in the bottom half of the first inning as Chris Cote would single to center field, picking up an RBI to score a run to give the Lions an early 1-0 lead with just one out in the inning. Robert Zawacki, who made the start for the Golden Bears in his third start of the season, pitched out of a jam, getting a foul pop out and a ground ball to end the first inning. Western New England would come through with a run in the top half of the second inning to even the score at two. Ben Harrison led the inning off for WNE with a single up the middle, while Henry Schowerer would send a double into the gap in right-center field to score Harrison, giving Western New England their first run of the game.
TCNJ would add an additional run in the bottom half of the second inning to retake the lead after Mike Lagravenis singled to left field, picking up his first RBI of the morning, scoring a run for the Lions to give them a 2-1 lead. The two teams would go back and forth with runs as the Golden Bears would come through for their first lead of the ball game in the top half of the third inning. Paul Villecco would take a base on balls with one out in the inning while the next batter, Jack Loftus, would sending a roping triple down into right-center field to score Villecco, giving Western New England their second run of the ball game, coming through to tie the contest again. With Loftus, at third base and just one out, CJ Willis would come up with a single to third, though holding Loftus on the base. Harrison would reach on a fielder's choice by the Lions as the speed of Harrison would avoid a double play to score the second run of the inning for Western New England. Western New England would take a 3-2 lead after three fill innings as Zawacki held the Lions off the scoreboard in the third.
No runs would be scored in the 4th and 5th inning as Matt Lauria for WNE and Joseph Felipe for TCNJ would lock down the offenses for both sides. TCNJ would plate the game tying run in the bottom of the 6th inning on an error by the Golden Bears that score Sebastian Jnobaptiste to even the score at three. The score would remain that way for all of one-half inning before CJ Willis connected for his fourth home run of the season, this time a two-run shot to give WNE a 5-3 lead. Willis picks up RBI numbers ten and eleven on the season with one swing of the bat to give the Golden Bears the two-run lead. The Lions would come away with a run of their own in the bottom of the 7th inning when Michael Schumacher would double down the left field line to score Joe Oczkowski, sending the game to a close 5-4 score.
Neither team would come up with any runs in the 8th as TCNJ would be set down nearly 1-2-3 as Jared Kuryan looked to collect his third save of the season. Kuryan would set down two Lions by a way of a strikeout before catching Jack Hynes stealing to end the inning. In the 9th, Western New England would come through for two added runs to get some insurance runs on the board. Sean Jamieson would fly out to left field on a sacrifice fly, scoring Kohtaro Shimada, while Willis would touch home plate on a throwing error by the Lions catcher to give Western New England a three-run lead. In the bottom of the 9th, Kuryan would slam the door on the Lions, getting a ground out and two fly outs, sending WNE to their fourth victory in Florida, and sixth overall on the season, beating TCNJ by a final score of 7-4.
Around the Diamond:
- CJ Willis led Western New England, again, picking up three hits in five at bats on the night while scoring two runs, and collecting two RBIs in the win.
- Henry Schowerer picked up two hits for the Golden Bears, going 2-4 at the dish, while walking once and picking up an RBI for WNE.
- Matt Lauria picked up the winning decision in the ball game, going three innings for WNE giving up two hits and one unearned run while walking two and striking out one. Jared Kuryan picked up his third save of the season, going two innings giving up no hits and no runs, while walking one and striking out two.
- Jack Loftus, Ben Harrison, and Sean Jamieson picked up RBIs for Western New England in the win.
Up Next on the Schedule:
- Western New England returns to play in Massachusetts, as they take on Clark University at Granger Turf Field on Wednesday, March 23 at 3:30 pm.
- TCNJ remains in Florida for two more games on their schedule, playing Franklin and Marshall College and North Park University.
