Mansfield, Conn. - Junior OF James Wood (Windham,
N.H.) went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI, including
a three-run homer to the left-center gap to tie the score at 3-3 in
the fourth inning, as the Trinity College Bantams posted a 6-4 win
over the Westfield State College Owls in the opening round of the
NCAA Division III New England Regional Baseball Championship
Tournament this evening at Eastern Connecticut State
University. Trinity, ranked No. 3 in New England and No. 5 in
the nation, improves to 30-5 with its fourth straight win and
advances to the winner's bracket. The defending NCAA National
Champion Bantams, who reach 30 wins for the third year in a row,
will play the winner of the late game tonight between Southern
Maine and Husson. The Owls fall to 23-16 and will play an
elimination game against tonight's loser tomorrow at 1:15 p.m.
Trailing, 3-0, with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning,
Trinity put two runners on base on a single up the middle by junior
1B Kent Graham (Longmeadow, Mass.) and a walk by
senior co-captain 2B Ryan Piacentini (Portland,
Maine) to set Wood up for his game-tying
four-bagger. The Bantams took the lead the next inning, 4-3,
when Graham singled home freshman 3B Alex LiDonni (Norwood,
Mass.) off the glove of Owl junior starting pitcher
Jesse Vermeersch (Marlboro, Mass.) with two outs
and the bases loaded. Trinity added two more runs in the
sixth frame on a pinch-hit double down the right field line that
scored Wood and a two-out wild pitch by Vermeersch.
"That's how our team wins, everyone has their moment," said
Wood. "In my previous at-bat everything was outside, so I was
looking for a fastball away, something I could drive. I knew
the wind was blowing out to right, and so I had a pretty good idea
the ball was going out."
Westfield pulled within two runs in the top of the seventh
inning, when senior 1B Cagney Turner (Carleton Place,
Ontario) led off with a double and scored on a double play
grounder induced by Bantam junior righty Conor O'Sullivan
Pierce (Cambridge, Mass.) to the first batter he faced in
relief of freshman lefty starter James Ramsey (Belmont,
Mass.). With two outs, Westfield
State loaded the bases but Bantam sophomore RHP Andrew
Janiga (Ellington, Conn.) entered the game and fanned
sophomore C Peter Hogan (Weymouth, Mass.) to end
the rally. Janiga went on to allow just one hits to
earned an eight-out save in his first relief appearance of
the season and his first career NCAA appearance.
The Owls had taken a 1-0 lead in their first inning at-bats on a
leadoff walk by junior Ben Wagner (Cumberland,
R.I.), a single by junior Jeff Fields (Pittsfield,
Mass.), and an RBI ground ball by freshman Matt
Kelly (Weymouth, Mass.). Westfield State added two
more runs in the top of the third, taking advantage of a two-out
Trinity error, as Hogan followed with an infield single, and
sophomore Peter Grillo (Shrewsbury, Mass.) scored
both runners on a double to right field.
Ramsey earned the win for the Bantams, improving to 7-1 with six
hits and two earned runs allowed over 6.0 innings with three walks
and five K's. Graham went 2-for-4 at the plate and senior
co-captain C Sean Killeen (Greenfield, Mass.) was 1-for-2 with a
pair of walks for Trinity on offense. Owl freshman RHP
Aaron Messier (New Bedford, Mass.) worked two
innings of scoreless relief for Vermeersch, who took the loss on
the hill. Vermeersch allowed six runs and eight hits with
four walks and seven strikeouts. Turner finished 2-for-4 for
the Owls offense.
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