Golden Bears Ruin Win Streak with Sweep

Photo Credit: GORDON COLLEGE

WENHAM, Mass.— Gordon Baseball saw its month-long win streak snapped by Commonwealth Coast Conference power Western New England on Monday. The Golden Bears struck early and often for a 9-2 win in game one before hitting two solo shots in a 2-0 victory.

The Fighting Scots fell for the first time in 10 games and lost a doubleheader for just the second time all season. Gordon also saw its unbeaten home mark come to an end. The Scots now sit at 2-2 in the CCC and 13-7 overall following the disappointing results.

Western New England continues its tear to begin the season, improving to 14-4 and 4-0 in conference play after sweeping Eastern Nazarene over the weekend.

Game One: Western New England 9 – 2 Gordon

The gloves were unkind to the home team in the opening game as four errors in the first two innings
led to four runs for the Golden Bears. Starter Ryan Block (Egg Harbor Twnshp, N.J.) got himself out of a jam in the first inning, but trouble struck for the Scots in the top of the second.

Erik Lacaire (Worcester, Mass.) smacked a double to the wall in right center to lead off the inning. The Scots had Lacaire at third on a fielder's choice, but the throw was low and allowed all base runners to be safe. A broken pickoff scored the first run of the game and two singles by Kevin Marciano (Pepperell, Mass.) and Eduardo Colmenares (Caracas, Venezula) gave the Golden Bears a 3-0 lead before the Scots could blink.

Gordon almost got out of the inning without any further damage, but the third defensive miscue of the frame pushed another run across before the third out came.

The Fighting Scots were never able to recover.

Western New England scored twice more in the fourth, including one on an RBI single by Daniel Morin (Salem, N.H.). The Golden Bears made it 7-0 in the fifth on an RBI knock by Matt Calzone (Middlebury, Conn.).

The Fighting Scots made a small run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Chris Leavitt (Bridgewater, Mass.) and Daniel Quint (Wells, Maine) led off the inning with singles. An error by the Golden Bears loaded the bases with no outs, but the Scots were only able to score twice. Leavitt scored on a wild pitch and Quint on a fielder's choice.

The Golden Bears scored twice in the seventh to put a stamp on the game, with runs coming off a double play and a walk with the bases juiced.

David Cherry (Southbury, Conn.) had a methodical complete game effort, going seven innings while allowing only four hits and one earned run. Block suffered his first loss of the season, while giving up eight hits and five earned runs.

Lacaire was the standout at the plate for the Golden Bears with a 3-for-4 first game. Marciano also had two hits and two RBI.

Game Two: Western New England 2 – 0 Gordon

Starters Tom Mahoney (Granville, Mass.) and Caleb Bae (Canyon Country, Calif.) both pitched well for their respective institutions. Mahoney only allowed two hits in seven innings, holding a normally sound offense to a mere peep.

The Golden Bears scattered eight hits against Bae, but the only two runs of the contest came on a pair of solo homers by Ben LaCroix (Branford, Conn.) and Marciano.

On Deck:
Both teams go out of conference play tomorrow with Western New England scheduled to play at Keene State at 3:30 p.m. Gordon will host Framingham State at 3:30 depending on the weather.

Quick Hits:

• Gordon's 1-5 hitters were held without a hit in game one, the first time that has happened this season.
• Five of Gordon's six hits on the day came from freshmen.