Baseball Drops Both to Roger Williams

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 16, 2022) – The Western New England baseball team would fail to solve the outstanding starting pitching of the visiting Roger Williams University Hawks, falling in game one of the doubleheader by a final score of 3-2 before being defeated 12-7 in the second half of the doubleheader from Trelease Field on Saturday afternoon. 

Records:

• Western New England: 12-11-1, 3-5 CCC
• Roger Williams: 21-3-1, 7-2-1 CCC

Game 1: Roger Williams 3, Western New England 2

 Roger Williams was able to jump all over the ball in the top of the first inning, putting an early three spot on Western New England ans starting pitcher Kevin Hummer. Ben Bonavita laced a two RBI double to left field to open the contest, while Chris Flyn would single to the opposite field to drive in another, as the Hawks would open up the game with a quick 3-0 lead. The bats for the Golden Bears stayed relatively quiet, until the third inning when WNE would get their first run of the game. 

Vincent Caccavale would single to shortstop, with a throwing error getting by the first baseman to send Caccavale to second base with one out. CJ Willis would deliver in the very next at bat, connecting on a sharp single to left field to score Caccavale, getting the Golden Bears a run, sending the Roger Williams lead to just two, at 3-1. A pithers duel would take over from there as Justin Garcia for the Hawks and Kevin Hummer for the Golden Bears would send up three batters and sit down three batters in consecutive order. 

Garcia would go the first six inning for RWU giving up just four hits and one unearned run while walking two and striking out six. Hummer would go the first 7.2 innings giving up six runs and three runs while walking two and striking out six. The Golden Bears would get the next run of the contest, though not until the bottom of the eighth when Willis connected for a long ball to left center field to get WNE on the board for the second time in the game, sending Roger Williams' lead to 3-2. WNE would get one final chance in the bottom of the 9^th as Aaron Cole would single to right field with one out, though that would be the only hit the Golden Bears would grab, as WNE would fall short by a final score of 3-2.

Around the Horn:

• CJ Willis led WNE with two hits in three at bats on the afternoon, picking up both RBIs. 
• WNE struck out 11 times in the first game of the doubleheader while leaving seven on base. 
• Tyler Cedeno was the only member of the Hawks to have multiple hits on the afternoon, as RWU came across with just six hits in the first contest. WNE out hit RWU 7-6.
• Connor Hewlette shut the door in the final three innings for the Hawks, giving up three hits and a run while striking out five without walking a batter. 

Game 2: Roger Williams 12, Western New England 7

As they did to open the first ball game, the Hawks collected runs in the top of the first inning to get off to a quick start. Tyler Cedeno would set the tone early for the Hawks, coming away with a leadoff home run to get RWU out ahead 1-0. Ben Bonavita would triple to the right center field corner, scoring another Hawks run as Roger Williams would take a two-run lead after one inning of play. Cedeno wasn't done there, as he came up in the top of the second inning and did the same thing he did in the top of the first, coming away with his second longball of the season, this time a two-run shot to double the Hawks lead, as they quickly took a 4-0 advantage. Cody Waterbury would double down the left field line with two outs in the bottom of the second, though WNE would fail to score any runs in the inning as Roger Williams kept their four-run edge. WNE would go three up three down three times in the first five innings as Chris Flynn would dominate the Golden Bears lineup. RWU would crack the game open in the 6^th after a double and a single would score two more runs for the Hawks, giving them a 6-0 lead. 

Ben Harrison would get WNE's first two RBIs in the contest after he was able to connect for the long ball to left center to get the Golden Bears on the board, as WNE collected two runs back from the Hawks, though still leading 6-2. In the top of the 7^th, the Hawks would grab a grand slam home run to score in double digits, taking a 10-2 lead. While RWU put up two more runs in the top of the 8^th, Western New England would fight back. 

CJ Willis would rip a single up the middle to score Henry Schowerer while Ben Harrison would grab his third RBI of the afternoon, ripping a single to left field to score Trey Young, putting the Golden Bears behind 12-4. John Bova would collect the last RBI of the inning for WNE after a SAC fly to center would score another WNE run. 

In the 9^th, Western New England would come away with two added runs, though it wouldn't be enough to get past the Hawks. Willis and Sean Jamieson would both knock in runs on RBI singles before the final out was recorded, sending the Hawks to a 12-7 win over Western New England, sweeping the doubleheader. 

Around the Diamond:

• CJ Willis, Ben Harrison, and Cody Waterbury each collected at least two hits for WNE in the game two loss. The three combined for five RBIs. 
• SP Robert Zawacki went the first four innings for WNE giving up four hits and four runs while walking three and striking out one, while giving up two home runs. Zawacki threw 75 pitches.
• The WNE bullpen surrendered 11 hits and eight runs, all earned while walking four and striking out just three in the second game of the doubleheader. 
• Chris Flynn went the first seven innings for RWU throwing 100 pitches while giving up five hits and two runs, while walking one and striking out seven. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England travels to Nichols College on Tuesday, April 19 for a 3:30 pm CCC game.
• Roger Williams meets Johnson and Wales in Providence, R.I. on the same date at 4:00 pm.