WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark University baseball team dropped a marathon non-conference matchup on Tuesday evening as an RBI single from junior catcher Jake Balderston in the 12th inning allowed the Golden Bears to come away with a 9-8 final at Granger Field.

The Basics

Score: Golden Bears 9, Cougars 8 (12 inn.)

Records: Clark University (1-3) | Western New England (1-0)

How it Happened

The Cougars managed 10 hits on the game with the offense pounding out seven or more hits for the fourth consecutive game. Senior right fielder Collin Porter (Brookfield, Conn.) continued his early-season tear, smacking his third homer of the season and finishing with a game-high four RBI.

Senior Dylan Horn (Sterling, Conn.) finished 3-for-5 to pick up his first multi-hit game of the season atop the Cougars lineup while scoring two runs and drawing a walk. Senior Nick Jordan (Seaford, N.Y.) logged a triple a 1-for-4 effort. On the mound, junior Chris Radovic (Fairfield, Conn.) tossed five complete innings in the start while making his season debut on the mound, striking out five and allowing three earned runs on three hits.

Clark enjoyed a quick one-two-three frame in the top of the first with Radovic catching the corner of the plate to end the inning with a strikeout. In the home half of the inning, Porter remained locked in at the plate as the senior launched an 0-1 fastball over the fence in left field to clear the bases for his third homer of the year and a 4-0 lead for the Cougars.

Western New England got one of the runs back in the top of the second after walks to Joe Webber and Ben Harrison and a fielder's choice from Vincent Caccavale. With one out, Paul Villecco drove a ball to centerfield to plate Harrison and make it a 4-1 deficit.

The Cougars extended the lead in the bottom of the fourth with junior Trevor Ham (North Andover, Mass.) leading off with a double down the left field line before first-year Anthony Keefe (Plymouth, Mass.) bunted him to third base. One batter later, junior Steven Mooney (Buffalo, N.Y.) laced a single to shallow centerfield to plate his first RBI of the season.

Western New England struck for a pair in the top of the fifth inning to make things interesting as a lead-off single from Sebastian Grignano and a one-out knock from Jamie Schofield put runners aboard. With two outs, senior first baseman Zac Nussbaum drilled a single up the middle to plate both teammates to make it a 5-3 ballgame.

The Cougars doubled the lead again in the sixth as senior Ryan Ruhlin (Portland, Maine) singled in Ham, who reached on a fielder's choice. The Golden Bears came right back, however, tying up the game in the top of the seventh with two outs with a two-run triple from Harrison and an RBI from Webber to make it 6-6.

Clark re-gained the leave in the bottom of the seventh as a single from Horn got the inning started before a walk to senior Derek Lefebvre (Groton, Mass.) and a hit by pitch to Radovic loaded the bases. With the bases loaded, Golden Bears' righty Ryan Searles was called for a balk to push across a run and give the host a one-run advantage.

The Cougars added an insurance run in the eighth as a bases-loaded hit by pitch to Radovic allowed Jordan to scamper in from third for the 8-6 margin. But, the Golden Bears came charging back in the top of the ninth with Caccavale ripping a two-out double to bring home a pair of runs and tie the game up.

The bats from Clark were slowed in the bottom of the ninth and into extras with Western New England recording 12 outs while facing just 13 batters. In the top of the 12th, the visitors recorded the game-winning run as Balderston singled in EJ Dudley for the 9-8 final.

Clark senior Cam Smith (Gorham, Maine) shined in 1.1 innings of hitless relief while first-year Nate Bonini (Westfield, Mass.) surrendered one hit in a complete inning for his collegiate debut.

Up Next

The Cougars are slated to return home on Wednesday, February 26 for a 3:30 PM non-conference matchup with Keene State.