Box Score BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Baseball advanced to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Baseball Championship Game with a 3-0 win over Springfield College Saturday afternoon.
Roger Williams (26-16), who entered the tournament as the #1 seed, will face off against #3 Suffolk University, who defeated #2 Salve Regina 6-4 in the other ECAC Semifinal game. Springfield ends the year at 21-16.
Hawk starter George Lund (West Hartford, Conn.) opened the game with a pop-out and a swinging strikeout for the first two outs. Frank Calabrese (East Longmeadow, Mass.) followed with a base hit over the head over third baseman Kevin Baker (Wilbraham, Mass.). Sean Smith (Broken Arrow, Okla.) then knocked a single into center field, moving Calabrese to second. He would beat out the throw by centerfielder Jamie Timothy (Cohasset, Mass.) at third base, which led to Smith attempting to take the extra base. Baker made a heads-up play, throwing out Smith at second to end the inning.
In the Hawks' half of the inning, Caulin Rogers (Gloucester, Mass.) reached on a one-out walk and moved over to second on a ball in the dirt. Errant pitches became a theme in the inning, as Smith made numerous crucial stops on pitches by Springfield starter Travis Lane (Canton, Conn.). Despite his efforts, the Hawks still managed to score the first run of the game on an RBI single by Reid Nelson (Wallingford, Conn.). Shawn Cariglio (Milford, Conn.) followed with an infield single, beating a tough throw off a good stop at short by Dan Bergami (Schenectady, N.Y.) and bringing home Chris Travers (East Freetown, Mass.).
RWU's Mike Pascarellla (Milford, Conn.) picked up the lone hit in the bottom of the second, a double to center field. He would then steal third base, becoming the all-time career leader in stolen bases in Roger Williams history, swiping his 76th career bag.
Springfield's Shane O'Leary (Kings Park, N.Y.) drew a lead-off walk in the top of the top of the fourth, with Calabrese following with a line-drive base hit to left. The Pride looked poised to add a run on the board, but Lund was able to get a 5-4-3 double play to put a runner at third with two outs; then escaped out of the inning with a ground-out to third.
Pascarella opened the fifth with a grounder to second, with infielder O'Leary making a great diving stop but pushing his throw just a bit wide of first, giving Pascarella the lead-off hit. Rogers followed with a bunt single towards third base, with no one covering first. After a sac bunt, Travers nearly picked up his third hit of the day but settled for a sacrifice fly as right fielder Billy Paskowski (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) made a sliding catch on the low liner to give RWU a 3-0 lead.
In the sixth, Billy Peterson (Wareham, Mass.) led off double, while Calabrese earned a one-out walk. Jake Wazorko (Burlington, Conn.) made a great sliding backhand stop at short on Smith's swing to get the crucial second out of the inning. Nelson snagged the final out, as a foul out between home and first kept the Pride off the scoreboard.
Two innings later, the Pride put runners at first and second with one out, with Peterson drawing a walk and O'Leary knocking a hit to left. O'Leary's single chased Lund from the game, as Dan Julian (Stratford, Conn.) came in for relief. The first batter he faced hit a grounder to Rogers at second, who forced out the runner at second but couldn't complete the double play. Julian made the inning-ending play, snagging a chopper over his head to make the toss to first for the out.
Brendan Telfer (Avon, Conn.) came on in the ninth and struck out the side for his first save of the year. Lund improved to 9-0 while lowering his ERA to 0.84. Travers went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI while Pascarella was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Lane went the distance in the loss, allowing three runs in eight innings. Calabrese finished 2-for-3 while Peterson, O'Leary, and Smith each finished 1-for-3.