Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 THE BASICS
-Score Game One: Clark University 13, Coast Guard Academy 7
-Score Game Two: Coast Guard Academy 4, Clark University 3
-Records: Clark (21-10, NEWMAC 12-5), Coast Guard (9-18, NEWMAC 3-13)
-Location: New London, Conn. (Nitchman, Field)
The Lead: The Clark University baseball team split a pair of New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game with the Bears of Coast Guard Academy on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars cruised to a 13-7 victory in game one before the Bears rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth for a come-from-behind 4-3 win in game two to clinch the split.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One : Clark 13, Coast Guard 7
-Clark jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the fourth and held on for the 13-7 win as freshman Chris Radovic (Fairdield, Conn.) and junior Zach Kelley (Hadley, Mass.) homered while sophomore Nick Jordan (Seaford, N.Y.) and sophomore Ryan Ruhlin (Portland, Maine) each had three hits for the Cougars.
-Junior Dan Shaw (Arlington, Mass.) (4-0) went the first five innings and allowed six hits and six runs, four earned while walking four and fanning four to get the win. Senior Joshua Dobratz (Southington, Conn.) pitched the final three innings and allowed just three hits and one run while striking out four to pick up his first save of the season.
-Graduate student Kyle Bonicki (Waterbury, Conn.) and Kelley each added two hits for the Cougars.
-Radovic hit a three-run homer to left in the second to give Clark a 3-0 lead.
-Junior Reed Jenkins (Brown Summitt, N.C.) RBI single in the second cut the deficit to 3-1 before Clark scored three more in the third on RBI singles by Kelley and Jordan before sophomore Andrew Thibault's (Nashua, N.H.) sacrifice fly made the score 6-1.
-Clark added four more in the fourth as Bonicki had a two-run triple, senior Teddy Downing (Cambridge, Mass.) drove in a run on a ground out and the Cougars added a run on an error for a 10-1 lead.
-Sophomore Jon Pressley (Austin, Texas) had an RBI single in the fourth to make the score 10-2 before Downing's sacrifice fly in the fifth made the score 11-2.
-Coast Guard got fourth in the fifth as junior Luke Thompson (San Ramon, Calif.) drove in a run on a ground ball and another scored on an error and senior Alex Murdoch followed with a two-run single to cut the deficit to 11-6.
-Junior Jake Behne's (Clifton, Va.) sacrifice fly in the seventh pulled the Bears to within 11-7 before Kelly hit a two-run homer to center in the ninth to close the scoring.
-Behne, junior Jeremy Lhotka (Orange Park, Fla.) and Pressley each had two hits for Coast Guard.
-Freshman PJ Gravalec (Marietta, Ga.) (1-3) pitched 3 1/3 innings and took the loss for the Bears. Freshman Michael Gilmore (Valencia, Calif.) pitched 3 2/3 innings of solid relief allowing four hits and one unearned run.
Game Two: Coast Guard 4, Clark 3
-Sophomore Brett Sullivan (Granby, Mass.) (4-4) pitched eight solid innings and Coast Guard rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth for the 4-3 win.
-Sullivan allowed eight singles and three runs, two earned, while walking just one batter and fanning five. Sophomore Ben Webster (Colorado Springs, Col.) allowed a hit in the ninth and struck out two to pick up his first collegiate save.
-Sullivan and senior Patrick Robinson (Watertown, Conn.) matched zeros through six innings before Radovic delivered a pinch hit two-run single giving the Cougars a 2-0 lead.
-Lhotka's RBI single in the seventh made the score 2-1 before Clark added an insurance run in the eighth when Derek Lefebvre (Groton, Mass.) scored on a wild pitch.
-Lhotka's RBI single in the eighth made the score 3-2 before an error on a ground ball off the bat of Pressley allowed the tying and go ahead run to score for Coast Guard.
-Behne was 3 for 4 to lead the Bears offense while Lhotka and Pressley each had two hits in the win.
-Sophomore Kyle Shaw (Litchfield, N.H.) was 3 for 3while Kelley added two hits for Clark.
-Robinson went 6 1/3 innings allowing seven hits, just one run, while walking two and striking out seven. Downing (3-1) took the loss in relief.
UP NEXT
-Clark hosts Anna Maria on Tuesday, April 24th at 3:30 p.m.
-Coast Guard will host Mitchell on Sunday in a single game at noon before concluding the season at Emerson on Wednesday to complete a suspended game in which the Bears led 10-0 in the first inning.
