Baseball Uses Four Run First Inning, Strong Pitching to Power Past UMass-Boston

BOSTON, Mass. (March 30, 2023) – The Western New England baseball team scored four runs in the top of the first inning in Thursday afternoon's non-conference victory over the Beacons of UMass-Boston, which proved to be enough to pace their way to a 7-4 victory on Thursday afternoon. 

Records:

• Western New England: 11-4-1
• UMass-Boston: 10-6

Pitching Records:

• W: Matt Lauria: 2-1
• L: Nick Assad: 0-2
• Save: Andrew Melone: 2

How it Happened:
Western New England brought their bats to Boston early in the game and never looked back, scoring four runs in the opening frame to take an early lead. A lead off single from Paul Villecco would get WNE going while Cody Waterbury earned a walk, bringing Jack Loftus to the plate. Loftus recorded a triple to right center field, scoring Waterbury, giving WNE a 1-0 lead. Ryan Montini would join the triple parade, grabbing one of his own that scored Loftus to extend WNE's lead. Aaron Cole would come through with a single to right field to pick up another WNE RBI to take a 3-0 lead. The Golden Bears would get one final run in the top of the first after Henry Schowerer would reach base on a Beacon error to score the first run of the inning for the Golden Bears. WNE would score four runs on five hits in the inning to take the quick lead. 

WNE starting pitcher Matt Lauria would be dialed in early quickly setting down the Beacons in the first three innings. WNE would grab an insurance run in the top of the fourth inning after John Bova would send a fly ball to left field, a sacrifice fly, scoring Kohtaro Shimada, giving the Golden Bears a 5-0 lead. UMass-Boston would threaten in the bottom of the fifth after two Beacons would reach with no outs, though Matt Lauria would get the next three hitters to pop out, fly out, and ground out, to keep UMass-Boston off the scoreboard. After the middle innings stayed quiet, UMass-Boston would eventually crack the scoreboard after loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh. The Beacons would ground into a double play, getting two outs though exchanging that with a run before an RBI single would get UMB's second run of the game. 

The Golden Bears would come around and respond with two runs of their own in the top of the eighth after Aaron Cole recorded WNE's third triple of the night, collecting an RBI while Kohtaro Shimada would collect a sac-fly, getting WNE their seventh run on the board. WNE SP Matt Lauria would be relived in the eighth inning, going seven+ giving up six hits and two runs while striking out three Beacons. UMass-Boston would threaten in the ninth, though Western New England closer Andrew Melone would shut the door to get the final two outs of the afternoon, securing the 7-4 victory for the Golden Bears, winning their third straight on the week. 

Around the Horn:

• Aaron Cole collected two hits in the game, including an RBI triple to lead WNE. After grabbing five hits to start the game, WNE recorded just two hits for the rest of the game, though were able to take advantage of three UMB errors. 
• Matt Lauria shined on the hill for WNE, going a season best seven innings. 
• Andrew Melone picked up his second save of the season, going 0.2 innings. 
• Breon Parker recorded two hits and two RBIs for the Beacons in the loss. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE returns home to face Mitchell College on Sunday, April 2 at 1:00 pm.