Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

MESA, Ariz. - The Western New England baseball team opened play at the Greater Phoenix Invitational with a 4-2, 9-2 doubleheader loss to The College of New Jersey Saturday afternoon (Mar. 12) at Gene Autry Field.

The Golden Bears collected 18 hits, but stranded 23 runners (including 13 in the second game) in the two contests in falling to 2-2. The Lions improve to 7-2 on their trip to the Valley of the Sun.

Game 1

Senior Connor Henderson (Monmouth Junction, NJ) won the battle of pitching aces against senior Matt Rogers (Portsmouth, RI). Henderson went seven innings allowing four hits and a run with four walks and four strikeouts in gaining his first win of the year.

The Lions scored three times in the second and went ahead 4-0 on a sacrifice fly by junior first baseman Jimmy Ruzich (Verona, NJ). Henderson started strong retiring the first 10 batters before allowing a double by senior center-fielder Andrew Fatse (Hampden, MA).

The Golden Bears finally got on the board in the fifth when senior designated hitter Ryan Dudzinski (Bristol, CT) hit a sacrifice fly that scored sophomore second baseman Mike Rubino (Northford, CT) who singled to lead-off the inning.

Henderson pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth, but ran into trouble when Fatse and senior third baseman Tony Trubia (Tolland, CT) hit back-to-back singles to lead off the eighth.

Junior Michael Ham (Sparta, NJ) came in relief and got out of the inning with a strikeout and double play.

Western New England started the ninth with three straight singles off senior Joe Marchitelli (Jackson, NJ) with sophomore left-fielder Matt Anthonis (Guilford, CT) knocking in the final run. Marchitelli then struck out two of the final three hitters to earn his third save of the year.

Rogers gave up eight hits and four runs (three earned) with three strikeouts and a walk in falling to 1-1. Junior Mark DiTommaso (Hebron, CT) did a nice job permitting only two hits in four innings with a walk and two strikeouts.

The College of New Jersey finished with 10 hits with senior shortstop Jason Zegarski (Lawrenceville, NJ), sophomore right-fielder Andrew Priece (Bridgewater, NJ), and sophomore center-fielder Michael Murphy (Staten Island, NY) each compiling two hits.

Game 2

The Lions took an early 6-0 lead after scoring twice in the second and four times in the third.

Sophomore designated hitter Jonathan Gabriel (Orefield, PA) led the 14-hit attack by reaching base five times. He had a pair of singles and doubles, scored two runs, and had two RBI. Sophomore third baseman Nick Cifelli (Ewing, NJ) added three singles and knocked in four runs.

Sophomore Robert Graber (Franklin Lakes, NJ) earned his first win of the season by allowing nine hits and two runs in six innings with no walks and seven strikeouts. Ham finished up giving up only two hits with a walk and strikeout for his first save of the year.

Western New England used seven pitchers with sophomore Kevin Jefferis (Cheshire, CT) losing for the first time in two decisions. He struggled giving up six runs (five earned) and four hits with a strikeout and four walks.

Sophomore second baseman Tim Clark (West Springfield, MA) had two hits, including a two-run triple in the sixth for the Golden Bears' only runs. Fatse contributed two singles to cap a fine four-hit day at the plate.