SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 20, 2024) – The Western New England baseball team picked up two victories on Saturday afternoon over the Fighting Scots of Gordon College, being led by
Cody Waterbury in game one and
Trey Young in game two.
Records:
- Western New England: 15-13, 5-4 CCC
- Gordon College: 7-25, 2-8 CCC
How it Happened (Game 1):
The Golden Bears brought their pitching and bats to game one, slugging the Fighting Scots 10-0 in their opening game of the doubleheader. Jared Kuyran would toss a quick 1-2-3 inning to start the top of the second, while
John Bova would come around to score after the WNE shortstop would be hit by a pitch, steal a base, advance on a flyout, and score on a wild pitch, giving the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead after one inning of play. The Fighting Scots would come away with just one hit through four innings, while the Golden Bears would be back on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning, coming away with four runs on three hits.
Cody Waterbury would walk in the first at-bat of the fourth inning and would come around to score on a two-RBI single by
Sean Jamieson, giving the Golden Bears a 3-0 lead. The scoring would continue for Western New England when
Kohtaro Shimada celebrated his senior day with a single through the left side of the diamond, scoring
Jamieson and putting another run on the scoreboard for the Golden Bears. WNE would take advantage of a throwing error by Gordon's centerfielder to pick up their last run of the bottom of the fourth, taking a 5-0 lead after those four innings of play.
After another three-up, three-down for the Golden Bears ace,
Cody Waterbury would lift a big fly to left field, his ninth home run of the season, giving Western New England a 7-0 lead.
Waterbury would take his turn at the plate again in the bottom of the seventh and repeat what he did in the bottom of the fifth, connecting on a two-run home run, which extended the Golden Bears lead to nine runs. Western New England would finish the game in the bottom of the eighth when
Henry Schowerer would single up the middle to score
Aaron Cole, who reached on a single, as Western New England would take a 10-0 victory in eight innings in the opening game.
Inside the Diamond:
- Western New England collected eight hits in the win, two coming from Cody Waterbury and two from Aaron Cole.
- Waterbury launched two home runs and four RBIs in the win to lead the Golden Bears.
- Jared Kuryan tossed his second complete game of the season, throwing the full eight innings and giving up three hits to Gordon while striking out eight in the win.
How it Happened (Game 2):
Gordon would come away with the first two runs in the top of the first off WNE's
Tyler Curtis, who made his first conference start of the season. The Fighting Scots first three batters would reach in the top of the first, though
Curtis would settle down and run a double play, seeing the Fighting Scots grab a run on the DP while an error would cost Western New England in the inning, giving Gordon their second run of the game. The Golden Bears would waste very little time getting back on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning and taking their first lead of game two.
Paul Villecco would grab a leadoff walk, while
Sean Jamieson would pick up an RBI single, scoring WNE's first run of the game.
Trey Young would walk to the plate with the bases loaded and quickly plate two runs with a single to center field, giving Western New England a 3-2 lead.
Scoring would stifle in the second and top of the third after
Curtis would settle in and send down the Fighting Scots quickly. Western New England would be back on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third when
Young was back on target, coming away with another two-RBI single, this time to right field, scoring two, giving the Golden Bears a 5-2 lead. Gordon would match those two RBIs from Young when Andrew Hartman would double down the right field line, scoring two runs and getting Gordon back within a run, 5-4.
Western New England's
Cam Heeman would come into the back in the top of the fifth and pitch the next three innings, facing nine batters, giving up no hits while striking out one to keep Gordon off the scoreboard. Western New England would plate two more in the bottom of the sixth inning after a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly would jump Western New England's lead to 7-4.
Troy Donohue would get the Fighting Scots in order in the top of the eighth, while the Golden Bears would pick up two more runs when
John Bova recorded a run on an RBI single while scoring on a wild pitch.
Gordon would come alive in the top of the ninth inning, opening the inning with four hits, a double, and three singles, getting two quick runs on the board. After an out recorded, the Fighting Scots were back on the board with back-to-back singles to get within one run of the tie. With a runner 90 feet away from tying the game,
Donohue would lock down the bottom of the inning and get two quick outs to send Western New England to a 9-8 victory.
Inside the Diamond:
- The Golden Bears slahed seven hits in game two, led by Sean Jamieson and Trey Young, who combined for five of those hits for the Golden Bears.
- Young recorded four RBIs on his two hits in the win.
- The Golden Bears left ten runners on base, while Gordon left seven.
- Cam Heeman no-hit the Fighting Scots over three innings of work, facing the minimum over the three innings.
- Troy Donohue picked up his second save of the season for the Golden Bears.
- The Golden Bears honored their 11 seniors prior to today's opening game. Congratulations, Aaron Cole, Henry Schowerer, Robert Zawacki, Kohtaro Shimada, Aidan Gowaski, Jared Kuryan, David Vignapiano, Troy Donohue, Cody Waterbury, Liam Wallace, and Ryan Snow!
Up Next on the Schedule:
- The Golden Bears stay at home and take on the University of Hartford on Tuesday, April 23 at 3:30 PM.
