WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark University baseball team (18-8, 4-4 NEWMAC) welcomed Wheaton (14-11, 6-2 NEWMAC) to Granger for the first of a two-game series on Friday afternoon and came away with a convincing 6-1 victory sparked by a dominant combined performance on the bump from first-year
Robby Roth, junior
Tommy Flaherty, and graduate student
Benjamin Spencer.
How it Happened
- Roth retired the side in order in the first before Clark took a 1-0 lead off an RBI single from junior Dom Mariani.
- After another scoreless inning from Roth, the Cougars loaded the bases as graduate student Anthony LoCasto, junior Alfonso Jalil, and senior Carter Doran all reached base before Aiden Cardoza forced a groundout to second base to end the inning.
- Roth only allowed one baserunner between the third and fourth inning before Clark's bats added two more runs as sophomore Michael Salzillo roped a two-RBI triple to right center that brought home LoCasto and junior Brayden Hollinrake to take a 3-0 lead.
- Flaherty entered the game in the fifth and tallied three consecutive swinging strikeouts and in the bottom of the fifth, Jalil recorded an RBI single through the left side that scored graduate student Ryan Caulfield to extend the edge to 4-0.
- Flaherty retired six of the next seven batters he faced before the Cougars added two more runs as Salzillo hit a ball that snuck through the right side of the infield to plate LoCasto and Hollinrake as Clark led 6-0.
- Spencer entered the game in the ninth and sealed the victory despite an RBI double from Timmy Wagner a the Cougars recorded a 6-1 victory.
Inside the Box Score
- Salzillo led the team with four RBI's, two hits, and a triple.
- LoCasto tallied a team-high three hits and scored two runs.
- Roth tossed 4.0 innings, only allowed two hits, and struck out two batters.
- Flaherty picked up his fifth win of the year with 4.0 innings pitched and only allowed one hit.
- Spencer closed out the game with an inning pitched.
- Jalil and Doran both recorded a pair of hits.
- Hollinrake scored two runs and tallied a hit.
What's Next
Clark will close out their two-game weekend series against Wheaton on Sunday afternoon when they host the Lyons for a contest beginning at 12:00 p.m.