Baseball Suffers Two Conference Losses at Curry College

MILTON, Mass. (May 7, 2022) – The Western New England baseball team dropped two contests at Curry College on Saturday afternoon, ending the regular season with a 6-10 record in conference play. 

Records:

• Western New England: 17-18-1, 6-10 CCC
• Curry College: 15-21, 5-11 CCC

Game 1: Curry College 4, Western New England 0 

Curry College pitching would be too much for the Golden Bears to handle, as Western New England would only be able to pound out four hits in the losing effort. Curry got the game started in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs on two singles to give the Colonels a 2-0 lead. WNE would load the bases with two outs in the top of the second, looking for a response of the Colonels two runs in the first. Aaron Cole would lead off with a single, while Paul Villecco and Jake Balderston were put aboard via walk and hit by pitch, though WNE would fail to score, getting a ground ball to end the inning. Both teams would start to go down in order, with Curry College threatening for more runs in the fourth, though SP Jacob Hobart would get out of the jam for WNE. Hobart went the first five innings giving up six hits and four runs, three earned, while walking four and striking out three. 

The Golden Bears did not have an answer for Curry, seeing the Colonels come away with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a four-run lead. The Golden Bears would be set down quickly in the final three innings of play, dropping game one of the doubleheader by a final score of 4-0. 

Inside the Lines:

• Curry's Jack Needham went the first seven innings, giving up two hits while walking one and striking out four, shutting down WNE. 
• Aaron Cole had two of WNE's four hits in the ball game. 

Game 2: Curry College 6, Western New England 3

After being shutout in the first contest, the Golden Bears would find their bats come to life in the second game of the doubleheader. Cody Waterbury and Aaron Cole would reach quickly in the top of the first, before Ben Harrison singled to right centerfield to drive in aa run, giving WNE a 1-0 lead. One play later, a steal from Harrison would cause an error from the Colonels catcher, scoring another WNE run, giving the Golden Bears a quick 2-0 lead. Western New England would again see the first two reach in the top of the second but could do no further damage. SP Kevin Hummer set the Colonels down in the first two innings, giving up just one hit. 

Curry would take advantage of miscues by the Golden Bears in the bottom of the third inning, leading to the Colonels first run of the contest. WNE would hold a 2-1 lead after three innings of play. The Golden Bears would get their run back in the top of the fourth, regaining that two-run lead when Aaron Cole singled to second base to score Paul Villecco after Villecco reached in the leadoff position in the inning on a sacrifice bunt. Curry would come back for another run in the bottom of the fourth inning with an RBI single down the left field line. From there, it would be all Colonels, as the Golden Bears would fail to score for the rest of the contest. 

Two runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh would be all Curry would need to defeat Western New England by a final score of 6-3. Hummer went the first five innings for WNE giving up four hits and two unearned runs while walking one and striking out three. Ryan Searles, who would take the loss, worked one inning, giving up four hits and two runs while striking out three. 

Around the Horn: 

• Curry saw Conor Quinlan work the final eight innings of the contest, giving up seven hits and one run while walking two and striking out seven. 
• Curry scored six runs on 11 hits in the contest, while WNE came away with just three runs on nine hits. 
• Aaron Cole went 3/5 in the second game of the doubleheader to lead WNE. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Both Western New England and Curry College await the final standings from Saturday's matchup to find out their seeding for the upcoming CCC tournament.