Cherry & Mahoney Lead Golden Bears to CCC Sweep of Gordon

Photo is courtesy of Western New England

Western New England improves to 4-0 in conference play

WENHAM, Mass. – Seniors David Cherry (Southbury, Conn.) and Tom Mahoney (Granville, Mass.) each posted impressive complete game efforts, leading the Western New England University baseball team to a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) sweep of Gordon College this afternoon at J. Tec White Field. The Golden Bears opened up an early lead en route to a 9-2 win in the opener, before edging the Fighting Scots 2-0 in game two.

Western New England 9, Gordon 2
The Golden Bears utilized a strong pitching performance from Cherry and a four-run second inning to snap Gordon's nine-game winning streak in the opener.

Cherry went the distance, giving up just one earned run on four hits while striking out three batters, improving to 3-1 this season in the process.

Senior shortstop Kevin Marciano (Pepperell, Mass.) fueled the offense with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate, walking twice to go with two runs and two RBI. Freshman outfielder Erik Lacaire (Worcester, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs, while senior second baseman Eduardo Colmenares (Caracas, Venezuela) and junior first baseman Daniel Morin (Salem, N.H.) each singled, walked, and drove in one run.

Freshman Chris Leavitt (East Bridgewater, Mass.) accounted for two of Gordon's four hits, while classmates Daniel Quint (Wells, Maine) and Christian Hodge (Waltham, Mass.) had one each.

After a scoreless first inning, the Golden Bears broke out for four runs in the top of the second. Lacaire led off with a double and came in to score with the help of two Gordon errors, while Marciano and Colmenares delivered RBI singles later in the frame to give Western New England a 3-0 lead. The visitors added a fourth run when Morin reached on a throwing error, allowing Marciano to score from third.

Senior Doug Milne (Nesconset, N.Y.) and Morin drove in one run each in the fourth, and the Golden Bears extended their lead to 7-0 in the fifth when senior catcher Matt Calzone (Middlebury, Conn.) plated Lacaire with a single to center field.

Gordon got two runs back in the bottom half of the fifth, but the Golden Bears restored their seven-run lead in the seventh, as Marciano capped the scoring by working a bases loaded walk for his second RBI of the game.

Western New England 2, Gordon 0
Mahoney followed up Cherry's effort with an even more impressive performance, allowing just two hits en route to a complete game shutout. The senior lefthander improves to 3-1 this season while lowering his earned run average to 1.23, good for second in the CCC.

The Golden Bears scored early for the second straight game, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when freshman outfielder Ben LaCroix (Branford, Conn.) led off with his third home run of the season, a solo shot over the right center field fence.

That would prove to be all of the run support that Mahoney would need, but Western New England added a second run in the seventh on Marciano's second career homer.

Sophomore Caleb Bae (Canyon Country, Calif.) got the start for the Fighting Scots and took the loss despite turning in a solid outing in which he went the distance, allowing just the two solo home runs.

Colmenares and Milne finished with two hits each for the Golden Bears, while Hodge and junior Ryan Paulsen (Latham, N.Y.) had Gordon's lone hits.