Box Score Box Score

William Montrone

Daniel Critchley

Michael Dean

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Sophomore second baseman Mike Rubino (Northfield, CT) went 5-for-5 and senior pitcher Matt Rogers (Portsmouth, RI) won his sixth game as the Western New England baseball team defeated Westfield State 7-4 in a non-conference contest Thursday afternoon (Apr. 21) during “Senior Day” at Trelease Park.

This was the 10th win in the last 11 outings for the Golden Bears who are now 27-8. The Owls fall to 14-16.

Rubino had the best day of his career by collecting four singles, a double, run, and RBI. He leads the team with a .438 batting average.

Senior catcher Jason Leclerc (Chicopee, MA) also reached base five times with four walks and a double. He also stole a base.

Rogers (6-1) took a shutout into the ninth before the Owls scored all their runs. He allowed seven hits in eight-and-a-third innings with two walks and six strikeouts.

Western New England took advantage of two errors to score two unearned runs in the second and another in the third. Senior designated hitter Ryan Dudzinski (Bristol, CT) knocked in the first two runs with a single and added a sacrifice fly to give the Golden Bears a 4-0 lead in the fourth.

Leclerc delivered his RBI double in the fifth and sophomore shortstop Kyle McKelvey (Schenectady, NY) contributed a RBI single for a 6-0 lead. Rubino then added a RBI single to stretch the margin to 7-0 in the seventh.

Westfield rallied in the ninth with three straight hits to start the inning. Freshman pinch-hitter Drew Dunn (Nashua, NH) walked to score the first run. Sophomore pinch-hitter Chad Snow (Marion, MA) hit a line drive that sophomore right-fielder Casey Dadio (Branford, CT) caught with a nice running catch, but then dropped the ball before recovering and throwing out Dunn at second for a force-out. The final two runs scored on a ground-out and error.

Sophomore first baseman Josh Blair (Westfield, MA) finished with three singles in four at-bats.

Westfield State used four pitchers with freshman Tommy Carroll (Shelton, CT) (0-2) taking the loss. He gave up four runs (one earned) and four hits with four walks and six strikeouts in four innings. The Owls pitching staff had 11 strikeouts in the game.

The Golden Bears made some nice defensive plays in the game. Dadio made a great diving catch in the eighth to rob sophomore designated hitter Andrew Medeiros (Acushnet, MA) of a hit. Junior first baseman Mike Taylor (Andover, MA) scooped-up two throws in the second to prevent runs. Senior third baseman Tony Trubia (Tolland, CT) snared a line drive and turned it into a double play in the fourth.

Before the game, Western New England honored its seven seniors with Dudzinski, Leclerc, Rogers, Trubia, pitchers Zach Cloft (Glastonbury, CT) and Evan Michaud (Windsor Locks, CT), and center-fielder Andrew Fatse (Hampden, MA) each receiving a wooden bat.