WESTFIELD, Mass. – Junior catcher Jack Ryan (Bethesda, Md.) racked up four hits including a towering home run to left field as the visiting Trinity College Bantams held off the Westfield State University Owls for a 10-7 victory in baseball action this afternoon at Hagan Field.  Trinity improves to 14-7 and the Owls drop to 8-12. Trinity will visit New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) East Division rival Bates on Friday at 3 p.m. to kick off a three-game series against the Bobcats.

Trinity tallied the first eight runs of the contest with runs crossing the plate from the second to the fifth innings. Dylan Schnitzer (Huntington, N.Y.) started the scoring with a run-scoring single to right. Another run came in to score on an Owls' throwing error.  The Bantams capitalized on more defensive miscues in the third inning from Westfield State, leading to three additional runs in the frame. Two more runs scored in the fourth inning, capped off by a deep solo home run from Ryan to drive the lead up to seven runs. William Frain (South Hamilton, Mass.) captured the Bantams eighth unanswered run on a single to center.

Nick Marshall put a dent in the Trinity lead in the bottom half of the fifth by belting a three-run shot to right-center field to cut the Bantams' lead to five runs, 8-3.  Schnitzer picked up another RBI in the seventh inning on an RBI single to left to drive in Sean Meth (Port Washington, N.Y.) and give the Bantams a six-run advantage.  Westfield State continued to fight back in the ensuing half inning with two runs to it a 9-5 game. Justin Neidel trimmed the Bantams lead down to three in the eighth inning with a two-out RBI double. The Owls brought the tying run to home plate in the inning, but Trinity reliever Tyler Colditz (Lakewood Ranch, Fla.) escaped by forcing a popup.

The Bantams scored an insurance run in the ninth inning as Schnitzer deposited his third RBI of the contest into center with two out in the frame to push the lead up to 10-6.  In the Owls final at bats, Dan Burnett kept the game alive by crushing a homer to left-center field, cutting the deficit back down to three runs. Trinity junior catcher Yoshi Omi-Jarrett (Mill Valley, Calif.) recorded the game's final out with an alert play to throw out a runner after a Bantam error.  Michael Hall (Westfield, Mass.) got the start for Westfield, tossing the first five innings of the game, allowing eight runs (four earned) on six hits. Bantam' starter Ian Brown (Tampa, Fla.) picked up his second victory of the season after pitching five innings, giving up three runs on five hits with two strikeouts.