Baseball Falls, 7-4, In NEWMAC Semifinals
BABSON PARK, Mass. -- Two days after stunning second-seeded Babson
College in the quarterfinals, seventh-seeded Clark University
continued their improbable postseason run with a 7-4 upset
of third-seeded Springfield College in the
semifinals of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
(NEWMAC) Baseball Tournament.
Clark (17-16) will now take on top-seeded
Wheaton College in the winner's bracket of the double-elimination
portion of the tourney at Wheaton, while Springfield (17-14) will face
fifth-seeded Coast Guard in an elimination game at Babson. Both of those
contests have been moved to Sunday morning at 11 a.m. due to rain.
Springfield appeared to have the momentum early on, putting runners in
scoring position in three of the first five innings. However, Clark senior
starter Eamonn McDonough was able to escape unscathed
thanks to some timely plays by the Clark defense, which cut down a pair
of runners at the plate. Junior Scott Archibald threw
out Springfield junior
Scott Samolewicz (Florence, Mass.) on a fielder's
choice grounder to third for the second out of the third inning, and Nicholas Tapper gunned down junior
Chris McCarthy
(Longmeadow, Mass.) when he tried to score all the way from second on an
infield single for the final out of the fifth inning.
Meanwhile, SC junior starter
Jon Davis (Ludlow, Mass.) cruised through the
first five innings, allowing just one baserunner on a
walk while taking a no-hitter into the sixth. However, the sixth inning
would turn out to be disastrous for the Pride, as Clark scored all seven
of its runs on six hits and three Springfield errors. Clark's Kyle
Breidenstine, Todd Mathewson and Tapper recorded three straight RBI-singles to give
the Cougars a 3-0 edge, and, after the Pride's third error of the
inning, Jeffrey Gagnon hit a two-run single that gave Clark a 5-0 cushion. Joseph Silva then capped the inning with a two-run triple to left center, chasing Davis from the game.
Springfield got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth, as Clark
committed back-to-back errors to start the inning. Junior
Matt Basteri
(Melrose, Mass.) then drove in the Pride's first run with a single to
center, and senior
Mike Judge (Chathan, N.J.) plated the second with an
RBI-groundout to third.
The score remained 7-2 until the bottom of the ninth, when Springfield
loaded the bases with one out. Clark's Miles Whitlock then came on in relief of McDonough and issued a run-scoring walk to senior
Mike Burns (Wyanstkill, N.Y.), and junior
Steve Hunt (West
Hartford, Conn.) came home moments later on a fielder's choice to third
by senior
Anthony Gorneault (Springfield, Mass.). However, Whitlock
would get junior
Derek Yvon (East Longmeadow, Mass.) to line out to
center, clinching the 7-4 victory.
McDonough (3-4) allowed just two earned runs on eight hits in 8 1/3
innings, while Whitlock recorded the final two outs to earn his first
save. Davis (4-4) allowed a total of seven runs - only two of which were
earned - on six hits in 5 1/3 innings, while junior Carl Longo
(Manchester, N.H.) pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Team Links
Head Coach Mark Simeone
Former Springfield College standout
Mark Simeone will enter his 17th season as the head baseball coach at his alma mater in 2013 . The reigning NEWMAC Coach of the year is coming off a successful 2012 campaign in which the Pride went 20-15.
Read more.
Contact Head Coach Mark Simeone
E-Mail | Phone: 413.748.3274
