Nussbaum Belts Three Homers as Western New England Sweeps Curry

Golden Bears outscore Colonels 16-5 over the two wins

MILTON, Mass. (April 24, 2019) – The Western New England University baseball team improved to 11-1 in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play with a doubleheader sweep of Curry College on Wednesday afternoon at Jack Vallely Diamond.

Western New England 6, Curry 3

Top Performers
Junior Zac Nussbaum (Bridgewater, Mass.) powered the Golden Bears in the opener, going 3-for-3 at the plate with two home runs and three RBI. Senior Erik Lacaire (Worcester, Mass.) also went deep as part of a 2-for-3 effort, while senior Joe Cassella (Wallingford, Conn.) recorded two hits, including a double, and drove in one run.

Sophomore righthander Kevin Hummer (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was strong on the mound, striking out five batters and surrendering one unearned run on four hits over five innings to improve to 4-1 this season.

Curry sophomore Dylan Ketterer (Plymouth, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with a double, while junior Jared Keller (Oxford, Conn.) and freshman Jason Leonard (Dedham, Mass.) recorded one RBI apiece.

Game Review
Nussbaum staked the Golden Bears to a 1-0 lead with his solo homer to right field in the top of the second inning, and Western New England went up 3-0 in the top of the third when Lacaire launched a two-run shot to right center.

The Colonels broke through in the bottom half of the third, as freshman Julian Jaume (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led off with a walk before coming in to score on Leonard's RBI double to center field.

Western New England restored its three-run advantage the following inning, however, as senior Aaron Rios (Stratford, Conn.) led off with a double to left center and Nussbaum followed with an RBI single, plating Rios.

The Golden Bears would go on to win by the same margin, as both teams scored one run in both the sixth and seventh innings. Nussbaum delivered his second home run of the game, a solo shot, in the sixth, while Cassella added an RBI double in the seventh.  

Western New England 10, Curry 2

Top Performers
Cassella, Nussbaum and Rios sparked the Western New England offense in game two as the Golden Bears completed the sweep. Cassella went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Nussbaum hit his third home run of the day and Rios turned in a 2-for-3 effort with two RBI.

Western New England utilized six pitchers, with senior Paul Wetmore (Hamden, Conn.) earning the win after allowing one hit over 1.2 scoreless frames.

Leonard accounted for two of Curry's six hits, going 2-for-3 with a walk and one RBI.

Game Review
Western New England did the majority of its damage early with eight runs over the first two innings. In the top of the first, senior Brian Valeriano (Stratford, Conn.) led off with a single and Lacaire worked a one out walk before Cassella recorded an RBI single to center field. Two batters later, Rios came up with a pair of runners in scoring position and drove them both in with a two-out single through the left side of the infield to make it 3-0.

In the top of the second, Valeriano got Western New England's five-run frame started with a walk, and senior Alex Loparco (Riverside, Conn.) also reached on a walk before Lacaire singled to center, bringing in Valeriano. Casella followed with a two-run single, and Nussbaum then left the park for the third time with his two-run homer to right.

The Golden Bears added two more runs in the top of the fifth before Curry got on the board via Leonard's RBI double in the bottom half of the inning. The Colonels plated one final run in the bottom of the seventh, as senior Tyler Jenkins (East Bridgewater, Mass.) recorded a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring in the contest.

Up Next
Both teams will be right back in action tomorrow, as Western New England (20-10, 11-1 CCC) heads back on the road to face Westfield State, and Curry (9-22-1, 1-9-1 CCC) travels to Brockton to take on Wentworth.