Baseball’s Offense Opens Game, Bullpen Seals the Deal in 10-6 Win over Clark

WORCESTER, Mass. (March 21, 2023) – The Western New England baseball team returned to New England in style after a seven game Spring Break trip, defeating the Cougars of Clark University by a final score of 10-6. 

Records:

• Western New England: 7-2-1
• Clark University: 5-4

How it Happened:

As they have for much of the season, Western New England opened the game quickly and scored their first run of the game after CJ Willis (single), and Cody Waterbury (walk), would reach base which would be followed up by an RBI single to left field by Jack Loftus to give the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead. WNE's Jake Gerraughty would record a sacrifice fly to score a second WNE run while Aaron Cole would single through the hole between first and second base to score the third run of the inning for the Golden Bears as Western New England would take an early 3-0 lead. Clark would get a run back in the bottom half of the first inning off WNE SP Jacob Hobart when Ryan Caufield singled to center field to bring in the Cougars first tally of the afternoon, an unearned run, as WNE's three run lead would be cut to two after one inning of play. 

The Golden Bears grabbed a run in the top of the second inning after CJ Willis recorded a sacrifice fly to center field, grabbing his team leading 22^nd RBI of the season to put WNE ahead by three runs again. After Clark was shutout by Hobart and the WNE defense in the second, the blue and gold came around to pour it on the Cougars in the top of the third. Jake Gerraughty would begin the hit parade for the Golden Bears, smacking a triple to right center field which was then followed up by an Aaron Cole single through the left side of the infield to grab WNE's fifth run of the game. After Kohtaro Shimada reached on a hit by pitch, Ryan Montini would drill a single to right field to score Cole to extend the WNE lead. John Bova would break the game wide open with a three-run home run to left field, scoring three runs, and putting Western new England ahead 9-1. WNE would come around with one final run in the top of the third, capping off a six run, six hit inning to take a commanding 10-1 lead. Down nine runs in the bottom of the third, Clark would chip away at the Golden Bears big lead, scoring three runs on a three runs home run in the bottom half of the inning to put the score at 10-4. The Cougars added two additional runs to continue the offensive onslaught by both teams as Western New England would take a 10-6 lead after three innings of play. 

From there, it would be a turn of events as a offensive showing would quickly turn into a pitchers dual as Heath Cockburn for the Cougars and Robert Zawacki for the Golden Bears would take over on the hill. Both Cockburn and Zawacki would limit the damage on both sides of the baseball as both offenses would be silenced by the relief pitching in the ball game. Robert Zawacki would work three scoreless innings giving up only four hits while indusing multiple line outs to keep Clark off the scoreboard. No scoring would be had in the final six innings of the contest as WNE RP Andrew Melone would come into the game in the ninth and shut down the Cougars on seven pitches to wrap up the victory for the Golden Bears by a final score of 10-6. 

Around the Horn:

• WNE scored all ten of their runs in the first three innings of the game, recording just a single hit in the game after the third inning. 
• Simialr to WNE, Clark scored all their runs in the first three innings, finishing with five hits in the final six innings. 
• CJ Willis and Aaron Cole both collected two hits for the Golden Bears in the win, recording three combined RBIs. 
• Ryan Caulfield led Clark offensively, grabbing three hits and an RBI. 
• SP Jacob Hobart went the first five innings, earning his first win of the season giving up seven hits and five earned runs while striking out six. Robert Zawacki and Andrew Melone finished out the final four innings giving up a combined five hits without walking a batter. 
• Heath Cockburn went six innings for Clark, giving up one hit, and two walks while striking out ten Golden Bears. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE opens their home schedule tomorrow, Wednesday, March 23 at 3:30 PM to take on Amherst College from Trelease Park.