BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Baseball team kicked off The Commonwealth Coast Conference season with two wins against Gordon College, taking the first 3-1 and the second by a 9-2 score.

 

Kevin Simpson (Londonderry, N.H.) got things started for the Hawks with an RBI single in the bottom of the first, scoring Tony Verrocchi (Norwood, Mass.). RWU was able to keep the Fighting Scots off the board for the first two innings until Stephen Myhren (Vernon, N.J.) knotted the game at one apiece with a sacrifice fly in the third.

 

Grant Bolin (Simsbury, Conn.) put the Hawks back in the driver's seat with a leadoff homerun to left center in the bottom of the fourth. Matt Berte (Malborough, Mass.) would add an insurance run in the following inning, knocking in Andrew Haycock (Medfield, Mass.).

 

Those three runs proved to be enough for James Lydon (Calverton, N.Y.), who tossed a complete game four-hitter, striking three en route to his third win of the season.

 

The second game opened with Myhren bringing home Stephen Kefalas (Wenham, Mass.) with an RBI single in the top of the first. The Hawks responded in the bottom of the frame with two runs of their own to go up by one run.

 

The game swung in favor of the Hawks in the fourth inning, when RWU took advantage of three Fighting Scot errors to score six runs. The rally was highlighted by a Bill Lambert (Hanover, Mass.) two-RBI double for the Hawks' fourth and fifth runs. Gordon managed one more run in the top of the seventh before falling.

 

Brian Hurld (S. Boston, Mass.) pitched five innings of one-run ball, giving up only three hits with six strikeouts.

 

Kefalas went 3-for-5 on the day with two runs scored for Gordon, while teammate Myhren had two hits with two RBIs.

 

Roger Williams (9-5, 2-0 TCCC) will go on the road to take on Curry College Saturday at 12:00 p.m., while Gordon (3-6, 2-2 TCCC) hosts Fisher College in a non-conference bout.