Golden Bears Snap Mitchell’s 10-Game Win Streak in 6-4 Win

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 2,2023) – The Western New England baseball team , led by a combined seven hits in seven at-bats by Paul Villecco and Jake Gerraughty, defeating the streaking Mariners of Mitchell College on Sunday afternoon from Trelease Park, snapping the Mariners 10-game win streak. 

Records:

• Western New England: 12-4-1
• Mitchell College: 16-4

Pitching Records:

• W: Kevin Hummer: 1-0
• L: Chris Gibbs: 0-1

How it Happened:

Western New England starting pitcher Kevin Hummer would get the first inning over with quickly as the righty shut down the high-powered Mariners offense. Western New England would get two quick hits to open the game as Paul Villecco and CJ Willis would get aboard, Villecco via single to right field and Willis on a double to left field to put runners of second and third with no outs. WNE would be unable to cash in on their chance with runners in scoring position as Mitchell's SP Chris Gibbs would shut down the next three Golden Bears to get out of the inning unscathed.

Western New England would hit Gibbs hard in the third inning and collected their first runs of the game after Jack Loftus would collect a single and would quickly score on a Sean Jamieson double to give WNE a 1-0 lead. Jake Gerraughty would collect a single to the right side of the infield, scoring Jamieson while the bases would load for WNE. John Bova, WNE's next hitter, would send a two-RBI single to left field, giving the Golden Bears a 4-0 lead. 

After quiet middle innings, Mitchell would get on the board in the top of the sixth inning when Bo Yaworski smacked a home run that wrapped just inside the right field foul pole to get the Mariners their first run of the ball game. Mitchell College would threaten after the home run, putting two runners on base with no outs though Hummer would get a key pop out and line drive out to get out of the inning with giving up just one run. The Golden Bears would get their run back in the bottom of the inning when Sean Jamieson reached on a dropped fly ball by the Mariners center fielder, scoring Paul Villecco, taking their four-run lead back. The blue and gold would get a run in the bottom of the seventh inning after Jake Gerraughty singled up the middle, scoring Kohtaro Shimada, giving WNE a 6-1 lead. Gerraughty picked up his fourth hit of the game and second RBI of the contest.

The high-powered offense for the Mariners hit their stride in the top of the ninth, down by five, making the game interesting against WNE's Jared Kuryan. Mitchell would grab a two RBI single from Matt Falk, making the score 6-3 with two outs while Lelo Martinez would connect on a line drive hit to center field to score another. After a walk to load the bases, Jared Kuryan would get Justin Chiull looking at strike three to end the contest and sending WNE to their fourth straight victory of the season, defeating Mitchell College 6-4 and snapping the Mariners ten game win streak. 

Inside the Numbers:

• Paul Villecco collected three hits on three at-bats while also walking twice in the game. Teammate Jake Gerraughty led WNE, going 4/4 at the dish while collecting two RBIs. 
• SP Kevin Hummer went the first six innings for WNE, getting his first win over the season, giving up six hits and one run while walking two and striking out seven.
• Of WNE's 13 hits, four came for extra bases. WNE also stole four bases in the win. 
• Mitchell's Chris Gibbs suffered his first loss of the season after going five innings giving up ten hits and four runs, three earned, while walking three Golden Bears. 
• WNE improves to 4-0 at Trelease Park while Mitchell College drops their first game on the road this season, dropping to 3-1. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE hosts their first conference game of the season as Nichols College visits Trelease Park on Tuesday, April 4 at 3:30 PM.