NEWS

Alexander Mach (UConn) allowed just two hits along with six strikeouts across six scoreless innings while Matt Ruiz (Georgia St.) recorded five RBIs to lead the Danbury Westerners (19-18) to a 7-0 shutout victory over the Ocean State Waves (16-21-1) on Friday night.

 

Danbury Westerners 7 - Ocean State Waves 0

 

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. - The Danbury Westerners (19-18) defeated the Ocean State Waves (16-21-1) 7-0 behind a dominant pitching performance at Old Mountain Field on Friday night.

 

Matt Ruiz (Georgia St.) led all hitters with three hits and five RBIs on the night, including a two-run single in the first inning and a two-run double in the fourth.

 

Javon Hernandez (Auburn) recorded two hits of his own along with two runs scored and one RBI on the night, helping the Westerners cruise to a 7-0 victory.

 

Danbury starter Alexander Mach (UConn) pitched a dominant outing with just two hits allowed across six scoreless innings along with six strikeouts to earn his first win of the season.

 

Matthew Spada (Wesleyan) and Timothy Cianciolo (Massachusetts Boston) combined for three scoreless relief innings to keep Ocean State off the scoreboard.

 

Danbury will host the Bristol Blues at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday night while the Waves host the Newport Gulls at 6:30 p.m.

 

North Adams SteepleCats 6 - Sanford Mainers 3 (7 Innings)

 

SANFORD, Maine - The North Adams SteepleCats (8-27) defeated the Sanford Mainers (19-16) 6-3 in game one of Friday’s doubleheader at Goodall Park.

 

Sanford struck first with an RBI single by Devan Bade (SUNY Binghamton) in the first inning, but North Adams quickly responded with a three-run bottom half of the first, highlighted by a Samuel Tackett (Virginia Tech) two-run double and Chad Born (Coastal Carolina) sacrifice fly.

 

The Mainers tied the game 3-3 with an RBI single by Kevin Skagerlind (Massachusetts Amherst) in the second inning and a Nicholas Roselli (Binghamton) RBI double in the fifth.

 

North Adams regained the lead with a run scored by Jake Reinisch (Wake Forest) following an error by the catcher in the bottom half of the fifth inning. 

 

The SteepleCats tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly by Aiden Stewart (Delaware) and a run scored by Sam Sherman (Merrimack) following a wild pitch.

 

Jagger Jefferis (Eastern Michigan) allowed just one hit and recorded a nine-out save, his first of the season, to seal a 6-3 victory for North Adams. 

 

Game two of Friday’s doubleheader was suspended after the first inning due to rain. North Adams will travel to Holyoke to face the Valley Blue Sox at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday night while the Mainers host the Mystic Schooners on Monday night at 6:30 p.m.

 

Upper Valley Nighthawks 4 - Martha’s Vineyard Sharks 3 (DH, 7 Innings)

 

OAK BLUFFS, Mass. - The Upper Valley Nighthawks (17-17) defeated the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks (13-20-1) 4-3 in game one of Friday’s doubleheader at the Shark Tank.

 

The Nighthawks took an early 1-0 lead with a Matthew Russo (Southern Mississippi) RBI single in the first inning. Russo led all Nighthawks with two hits and three RBIs on the day. 

 

Russo added a two-run homer in the third inning along with an RBI triple by Kevin Bruggeman (Hofstra) to give Upper Valley a 4-0 lead.

 

Martha’s Vineyard chipped away at the deficit with Ryan McCoy’s (Louisville) solo home run in the fourth inning and two-run blast in the sixth inning.

 

Randall Alejo (St. Rose) put together a solid start with12 strikeouts and just one run allowed through five innings. Nickolas Monistere (Southern Mississippi) picked up his second save of the season with a scoreless seventh inning to seal a 4-3 victory for the Nighthawks.

 

Martha’s Vineyard Sharks 5 - Upper Valley Nighthawks 4 (DH, 7 Innings)

 

OAK BLUFFS, Mass. - The Martha’s Vineyard Sharks (14-20-1) split Friday’s doubleheader with a 5-4 victory over the Upper Valley Nighthawks (17-18) at the Shark Tank.

 

Upper Valley got on the board first with a Kevin Bruggeman (Hofstra) RBI single and a bases loaded walk to take a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

 

The Nighthawks extended their lead with an RBI single by Marco Ali (Marist) in the third inning.

 

Martha’s Vineyard scored their first run of the game on a Gio Colasante (Harvard) solo home run in the third inning. Matt Maloney (Penn State) added an RBI double to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the third.

 

The Sharks took a 5-3 lead with a three-run fifth inning, highlighted by an RBI fielder’s choice by Nathan Hall (Clemson) and a bases loaded walk which scored Gio Colasante.

 

Upper Valley scored a run in the seventh inning, but Vineyard’s bullpen shut the door to seal a 5-4 victory.

 

The Sharks will host the Mystic Schooners at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday night while the Nighthawks host the Keene SwampBats at 6:00 p.m.

 

Valley Blue Sox 3 - Bristol Blues 3

 

BRISTOL, Conn. - The Bristol Blues (16-15-4) and Valley Blue Sox (19-16-2) finished in a 3-3 tie following a stadium lights malfunction during the eighth inning at Muzzy Field.

 

Bristol struck first with a Gavin Noriega (Bryant) RBI single in the first inning.

 

Valley took the lead with a three-run fourth inning, highlighted by Antonio Guerrero’s (Washington) RBI double and Collier Cranford’s (Kansas) RBI fielder’s choice.

 

The Blues answered with two runs of their own in the fourth inning with a bases loaded walk and an RBI fielder’s choice by Gavin Noriega to tie the game at three.

 

Each team had strong pitching the rest of the way, as Harrison Durow (Trinity) pitched 1.2 scoreless innings in relief for Valley while Tommy Hughes (Southern CT St.) and Emmett Tolis (Fairfield) each threw 1.2 scoreless innings of their own out of the bullpen.

 

Valley maintains a one game lead in the West Division and will host the North Adams SteepleCats on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The Blues travel to Danbury for an important matchup with the second-place Westerners at 6:30 p.m.

 

Newport Gulls 8 - Keene SwampBats 6 (7 inn.)

 

NEWPORT, R.I. - The Newport Gulls (28-8-1) defeated the Keene SwampBats (12-25) Friday night at Cardines Field in seven innings, with the game being called due to fog, extending their lead in the Coastal Division. 

 

Keene jumped out to an early lead in the second, with a Greg Bozzo (Northeastern) single brought home Jordan Smith for the first run of the game, Keene led 1-0 after the top of the second. 

 

Newport responded right away in the bottom of the second, scoring two of their own to take the lead. Billy Butler (URI) scored the first run for the Gulls off a wild pitch, and the other came off a fielder’s choice off the bat of Noah Smith (Louisville), scoring Kolton Freeman (Dartmouth) to give the Gulls the lead after two. 

 

Newport put up four in the third, with Tyler Hare (Georgia State) smoking a two-run shot, scoring Michael Anderson (URI) to put the Gulls up 4-1, and they added two more with Slate Alford (Mississippi State) and Butler scampering home off putouts to put the Gulls up 6-1 after three. 

 

The sixth saw Keene come back and tie the game at six, putting up five runs in the frame, highlighted by a Jackson Owen (Northeast Mississippi CC) two-run single, scoring Blake DeLamielleure (Jacksonville) and Garrett Rice (Mississippi Southern State). Owen later came around to score on a Christian Mercedes (Southern New Hampshire) RBI single. 

 

In the bottom of the sixth, Newport took the lead for good, putting up two in the frame. Hare hit his second homer of the game, scoring Luke Beckstein (Northeastern) for the game winning runs. 

 

The Gulls are back in action Saturday in a Coastal Division clash with the Ocean State Waves, while the SwampBats look to get back on track at home Saturday against the Upper Valley Nighthawks.