BEVERLY, Mass.—
Travis Pullen (Las Vegas, Nev.) powered two home runs and led the Gordon Baseball team to its first ever sweep of Western New England on Monday afternoon at Endicott College. The Fighting Scots beat the Golden Bears 8-5 in game one before Pullen's late heroics helped the visitors complete a sweep, 7-3. A win in game one marked Gordon's first win over the Golden Bears since April of 2009.
Game One Pullen got things started for the Fighting Scots in game one, pummeling a ball over the fence in left-center in the top of the second inning. The Fighting Scots added to their lead in the top of the third inning on an RBI single by
Addison Tarr (Oxnard, Calif.) and an sacrifice fly from
Alonzo Martinez (El Paso, Texas).
Gordon starting pitcher
Mark Fitzgerald (Camarillo, Calif.) was sharp on bump, holding the Golden Bears to only one run over the first three innings. Fitzgerald ran into a bit of a jam in the bottom of the third when WNE power hitter Steve Buckley (Monroe, Conn.) drove in Doug Milne (Nesconset, N.Y.) from first with a double to the gap. The Golden Bears loaded the bases after Buckley's two-bagger, but Fitzgerald was able to produce an inning-ending groundout to avoid any other damage.
Timely hitting was a story for the Fighting Scots all day. With Fitzgerald's solid outing on the mound, Gordon was able to stay relaxed at the dish in the middle innings. After the Golden Bears cut the lead to 3-1 in the third, Gordon tagged on three more runs in the top of the fourth to extend its advantage. The Fighting Scots scored all three runs with two outs in the inning, capped off by a RBI single by Martinez.
Western New England finally got to Fitzgerald in the bottom half of the inning, starting with a leadoff double by Matt Calzone (Middlebury, Conn.). After a walk by Chris Casey (Milford, Mass.) and a single from Kevin Marciano (Pepperll, Mass.), Eduardo Colmenares (Caracas, Venezuela) cleared the bases with a triple. The very next batter, Milne, cut Gordon's lead to only one with a RBI single to plate Colmenares.
However, Gordon doubled three times in the top of the fifth inning including RBI knocks by
Dean Demers (Newtown, Conn.) and
Jeremy Jackson (Waco, Texas).
Scott Hall (Weymouth, Mass.) came in to preserve the win for the Fighting Scots, while Fitzgerald picked up his second win of the season. Trevor Breton (Enfield, Conn.) was charged with his second loss for the Golden Bears.
Game Two Runs were harder to come by in the early going of the second game of the doubleheader. Gordon managed a run in each of the first two innings, but couldn't garner any runs while
Wes Arning (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) held the Golden Bears to a 1-2-3 first inning.
Buckley provided instant offense in the bottom of the second, sending the first pitch he saw from Arning over the left field wall for a 1-0 lead.
Gordon tied the game in the top half of the next inning on a quirky steal attempt. Fitzgerald knocked Tarr from first to third on a single to left field before trying to thieve second base with
Alex Smith (Wethersfield, Conn.) at the plate. Fitzgerald was into second before the throw, which was just enough off target to allow Tarr to score on the play.
The Golden Bears regained the lead in the fourth inning after three singles loaded the bases with only one out. Gordon forced a dribbler back to the pitcher to throw the runner out at home and step closer toward getting out of a jam. The Fighting Scots looked poised to get out of the inning unscathed, but Morin beat Amaya in a footrace to third base and allowed Colmenares to score.
Once again the Fighting Scots knotted the game up when Pullen lofted a single to center field to score Smith in the fifth frame.
Eric Walker (Danvers, Mass.) gave Gordon its first lead of game two with a sacrifice bunt on a perfectly execute suicide squeeze. Jackson got a good jump at third base and Walker placed the bunt down the first-base line to score the run.
Western New England countered with a pinch-hit RBI single from Steve Rivela (Hudson, Mass.) in the sixth to tie the game a three entering the final inning.
Fitzgerald and Smith singled to lead off the inning, forcing the Golden Bears to go deeper into their bullpen. After Martinez was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no one out, Pullen cranked a fastball just inside the pole in left field for a grand slam.
Arning finished off his complete game effort, only allowing one hit in the bottom of the seventh to clinch his first victory of 2015. The senior allowed only two earned runs and struck out six batters. WNE reliever Matt Fedor (Monroe, Conn.) was credited with the loss.
Western New England falls to 2-8 on the season and 0-2 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Golden Bears stay on the road tomorrow afternoon at Suffolk. Gordon improves to 4-8 in 2015 and returns to non-conference play on Wednesday with a nine-inning contest against Salem State at 3:30 p.m.
