SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The fourth-seeded Roger Williams University Baseball team suffered its first loss of the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament, falling 2-12 to the top-seeded Golden Bears of Western New England University Sunday afternoon.
Despite the loss, Roger Williams (16-26) are still in contention for a berth to the championship game. The Hawks will take on #3 seed Curry College at Western New England tomorrow afternoon at noon. If the Hawks win the matchup, then RWU will then face Western New England in the championship game at 3:30 p.m. for the CCC crown.
Brendan Nugent (Milford, Conn.), the CCC Pitcher-of-the-Year, raised his record to 8-1 after giving up a run and eight hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
Junior third baseman Mike Rubino (Northford, Conn.) had a pair of doubles, runs scored, and RBIs to lead the way for Western New Engladn. Sophomore centerfielder Jeff Schult (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) singled, doubled, scored three times, and knocked in a pair of runs in addition to stealing his 27th base of the season.
Junior shortstop Kyle McKelvey (Schenectady, N.Y.) also had two hits and scored twice.
Western New England (32-11) had a 5-1 lead before breaking the game open with seven runs in the seventh inning.
The Hawks, who entered the game as the only undefeated team in championship play at 2-0, collected 10 hits, but left nine runners on base. Senior first baseman Trevor Manzi (Beverly, Mass.), senior designated hitter Tim Georgen (Bristol, Conn.), and junior shortstop John Oppenhimer (Westport, Conn.) all had two hits. Freshman Brendan Telfer (Avon, Conn.) (1-3) suffered the loss.
- Release courtesy of the Western New England University Sports Information Department
