BRISTOL, R.I. – Western New England University powered its way to a pair of wins over the Roger Williams University Baseball Saturday afternoon, defeating the Hawks 7-0 in the opener and 15-6 in the second game.
Western New England extends its winning streak to seven straight and improves to 23-9 overall and 11-1 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Hawks drop their fifth straight game and fall to 10-24 and 5-9 in the conference.
In the first game, Kyle McKelvey (Schenectady, N.Y.) knocked in Jeff Schult (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) with a sacrifice fly for a quick 1-0 lead. The Golden Bears added one more in the second when Taylor Searles (Seymour, Conn.) scored from third on a two-out misplay at third for a 2-0 lead.
The following inning saw Stephen Buckley (Monroe, Conn.) double WNE's lead with a two-RBI two-bagger to right, making it 4-0 in favor of the Golden Bears. Western New England added to the lead with two more in the fourth and one more in the sixth for a comfortable 7-0 lead.
That would be all WNE needed as Kevin Jefferis (Cheshire, Conn.) and Mike Lospinuso (West Islip, N.Y.) needed as the duo combined for the shutout. Jefferis went three innings, allowing two hits and three walks while Lospinuso tossed four innings with eight hits and five strikeouts.
McKelvey finished 3-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored. Schult went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, while Matt Anthonis (Guilford, Conn.) was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Sean Boyle (Arlington, Conn.) allowed all seven runs (six earned) in the loss in six innings pitched. Trevor Manzi (Beverly, Mass.) went 2-for-4 for the Hawks, while Mike Pascarella (Milford, Conn.) was 1-for-2.
In the second game, the Hawks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Pascarella began the rally with a leadoff single and later came in on a misplay at short. John Oppenhimer (Westport, Conn.) kept things going with a ground-rule RBI double, and later scored off the bat of Mike Thomas (Plainville, Conn.).
The following two innings saw the Golden Bears go on an offensive tear, beginning with a nine-run inning in the top of the second. Western New England brought 14 batters to the plate in the inning and connected on seven hits, including a pair of doubles by Taylor Perun (Plainville, Conn.). In the third, WNE scored four times for commanding 13-3 lead, capped off by Perun's two-RBI double.
The Hawks added one in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Derek Jerome (New Bedford, Mass.) and two in the seventh on a pinch-hit two-run homer by Trevor Sybertz (Chestnut Hill, Mass.).
Brendan Nugent (Milford, Conn.) picked up the win, allowing four runs (two earned) in five innings with four strikeouts. Perun finished perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored. Tim Clark (West Springfield, Mass.) went 3-for-6 with three RBI and two runs, while Mike Rubino (Northford, Conn.) was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
Tyler Pogmore (Lebanon, Conn.) was tagged for nine runs (five earned) in two innings. Pascarella went 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Manzi extended his hitting streak to 14 games by going 2-for-3.
Roger Williams travels to Bowdoin on Sunday, while Western New England hosts Eastern Nazarene on Monday.
