Western New England Shuts Out Framingham State 1-0 in Home Opener

Seven Golden Bear pitchers limit Rams to six hits

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 26, 2019) – The Western New England University baseball team posted a 1-0 shutout victory over Framingham State University on Tuesday afternoon in the Golden Bears' home opener at Trelease Park.

Top Performers
Seven Western New England pitchers combined to blank the Rams, including senior lefthander Will Krasovec (Haverhill, Mass.), who retired all six batters he faced to pick up his first career win. 

Senior righthander Andrew Foley (Wilbraham, Mass.) got the start and tossed a scoreless frame, before junior lefty Ryan Searles (Norwalk, Conn.) came on and struck out five batters over his two innings on the mound.

Freshman Tyler Achatz (Longmeadow, Mass.) pitched a clean fourth, while Krasovec handled the fifth and sixth innings.

Junior Patrick Westerlind (Auburn, Mass.) retired one batter in the seventh, before giving way to classmate Jeff Zebrowski (South Hadley, Mass.), who got the next five outs.

Senior closer Sean Halligan (North Branford, Conn.) finished the job for the Golden Bears, as he worked around a pair of baserunners in the ninth to nail down his fourth save of the season.

Game Review
After the Rams stranded two runners on base in each of the first three innings, the Golden Bears struck for the game's only run in the bottom of the third.

Sophomore outfielder Joe Webber (Marshfield, Mass.) got it started with a leadoff double to right center field, before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Senior catcher Brian Valeriano (Stratford, Conn.) followed two batters later with an infield single, and he stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Senior shortstop Alex Loparco (Riverside, Conn.) came up next and grounded out to second base, allowing Webber to score from third.

Achatz gave up a one-out double to senior Kyle Dembrowski (Natick, Mass.) in the top of the fourth, but he got out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout.

The Rams had another opportunity to break through in the top of the seventh, when senior Aaron Williams (Brockton, Mass.) led off with a single and junior Andrew Curtis (Dracut, Mass.) walked with one out. Zebrowski came on in relief of Westerlind, however, and struck out senior Joe Ambrosino (Bradenton, Fla.) before inducing an inning-ending groundout to strand two more baserunners.

In the top of the ninth, Halligan retired the first two batters he faced, but the next two reached base on a walk and an infield single, respectively. The senior lefthander struck out senior Matt Fogarty (Millis, Mass.) to end the contest and secure the save.

Notes
• Western New England was outhit 6-3, but the Rams stranded 14 runners on base.
• The win marked the Golden Bears' second consecutive shutout and third overall this season.

Up Next
Both teams will be right back in action tomorrow, as Western New England (7-5) travels to Boston to face Suffolk, and Framingham State (6-7) plays Babson on the road.