March is here and that means its officially baseball season for New England teams. Last weekend, many of New England’s best opened their 2013 seasons. Top-ranked Wheaton and several other teams opened up with games on Long Island. We’ll take a look at how those teams did here in our weekly recap.
Wheaton
The Lyons opened up their season with a pair of victories of St. Joseph’s (L.I.) and Farmingdale State. Wheaton pounded the Golden Eagles 17-1 in the opener as four players contributed three hits and three RBI on the afternoon. Kevin Foley, Matt Lavanchy, Eric Jensen and Dan Gusovsky all collected three hits and all drove in three runs as part of the Lyons 17-run, 17-hit attack. Frank Holbrook earned the win on the mound with six innings of one-run ball. Against Farmingdale State, Gusovsky’s third-inning single broke a 1-1 tie as the Lyons posted a 3-1 victory. Alec Palioca allowed just one run on five hits in 5.1 innings and Ryan Grant retired the final four batters to earn his first save of the season.
Western New England
The Golden Bears also opened up on Long Island last weekend, posting a 2-1 record. WNE defeated Farmingdale State 6-2, lost to Keene State 6-5 in 13 innings and defeated St. Joseph’s (L.I.) 7-1. With the score tied 2-2 in the ninth inning against the Rams, Kyle McKelvey broke the tie with a single and Steve Ambrosino followed with a three-run triple to push the Golden Bears to a 6-2 victory. Brendan Nugent allowed two runs in 5.1 innings and Mike Lospinuso earned the victory with 3.2 scoreless innings of relief. WNE rallied from 4-1 down to take a lead on Keene State but the Owls tied the game in the ninth and won it in the 13th on Saturday. Jeff Schult’s sac fly tied the game in the seventh and Ambrosino’s infield ground ball pushed across the lead run in the eighth. The Owls tied the game with a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth and won the game on a wild pitch in the 13th. Tom Mahoney suffered the loss but allowed just one run on one hit in four innings of relief. Against the Golden Eagles, WNE pounded out 14 hits with McKelvey going a perfect 5-for-5 with two RBI. Trevor Breton struck out six and allowed just one run on two hits in six innings of work.
Eastern Connecticut
Without a spring trip, the Warriors made the first of their three trips to Long Island last weekend. They started strong, posting a 3-1 record on the weekend. Evan Chamberlain struck out 10 batters in five scoreless innings as Eastern defeated New Jersey City 8-1. Brendan Lynch had two hits and drove in three runs. Tom Darby followed Chamberlain’s lead with five scoreless innings against Stevens Tech as the Warriors posted an 8-7 victory. Joe Balowski went 5-5 with four RBI and Adam Roderick added three hits, including his first home run of the year, and two RBI. The Warriors split on Sunday, falling to 6-3 to Ithaca and defeating Baruch 9-1. They couldn’t overcome five Bombers runs in the first three innings but responded with four of their own in the first three innings against Baruch. Andrew Merritt earned the win with five innings of one-run ball and Balowski collected three hits and scored two runs.
Southern Maine
The Little East Conference preseason favorite, the Huskies opened their season with a pair of victories. USM pounded Mount Saint Mary College 14-1 in the opener and then shutout Old Westbury 6-0 in the second game. With one of the best lineups in the region, the Huskies picked up 13 hits against the Knights. Tucker White had three hits, Nick Grady drove in three runs and Chris Bernard and Matt Verrier each drove in four runs. Bernard threw five scoreless innings to earn the win and also hit two home runs. Logan Carman and Andrew Richards combined to shutout Old Westbury on five hits on Sunday. Forrest Chadwick had two hits, including his first home run, drove in two runs and scored three.
Bates
The Bobcats have been playing longer than any other New England team as they started their season on Feb. 19. Bates has gone 4-3 in its first seven games, taking two-of-three from Berry and earning a split with Emory. Kevin McGregor is hitting .524 to start the season and Griff Tewksbury is right behind him with a .476 average and a team-high five RBI. Four other Bobcats are also hitting over .300. Chris Fusco has been the top pitcher so far despite his 0-1 record. He’s posted a 1.17 ERA in 7.2 innings with 10 strikeouts.
New England D3 College Baseball 