WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State's Matt Nunes (Taunton, Mass.) out dueled Framingham State's Kevin Connolly (Nashoba/Bolton, Mass.) in a matchup between two of the top pitchers in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference as the Owls posted a 7-1 win over Framingham in the nightcap to sweep a league doubleheader.
Westfield won game one, 11-0 behind a strong start from sophomore John Gegetskas (Sport Sciences/Windsor, Conn.). The Owls improve to 19-4 on the season, 6-0 in the MASCAC. Westfield has won 10 straight games.
Nunes (4-1) tossed a complete game, allowing just four hits and one run. He struck out seven while walking four.
Westfield took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, as Alex Lafayette singled, and eventually scored when Arismendy Larancuent (Westfield, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice and a throwing error let Lafayette come around to score.
Framingham tied the game in the top of the third as Matt Brockett (Guilford, Conn.) singled and later scored on Manny Powers' (Malden Catholic/Malden, Mass.) sacrifice fly.
Westfield scrapped for a second run off Connolly (3-1) in the third, on a walk to Colin Dunn (Westfield, Mass.), a stolen base and a two-out base hit from junior John Lippincott (Northwestern Regional/Barkhamsted, Conn.) that scored Dunn from second. Lippincott, a transfer from Division I Central Connecticut, has paid immediate dividends for the Owls as he registered hits in both games, extending his hitting streak to 13-games.
Lippincott again figured in in the scoring in the fifth, as he singled with one out, Lafayette followed with a single, and both scored on Alex Benevides (Durfee/Fall River, Mass.) base hit to increase the Owls' lead to 4-1. Benevides later scored on an error and the Owls tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Brockett and Ryan Wardwell (Hudson, Mass.) each finished with a pair of hits for the Rams.
In the opener, Gegetskas (3-0) spun five shutout innings, yielding just an infield base hit while striking out nine and walking four. Scott Strachan (Braintree, Mass.) and Mike Hersey (Norton, Mass.) each worked a scoreless inning to complete the team shutout for the Owls.
Westfield struck for three runs in the top of the first with singles from Anthony Crowley (Bellingham, Mass.), Lippincott, and Lafayette, and Jared Ferrari (Waltham, Mass.) laced a two-run triple to left center. The Owls added three more in the second to chase Rams' starter Al Wallach (Swampscott/Nahant, Mass.) (5-2), who was saddled with the pitching loss. Crowley delivered an RBI triple, and Ferrari drove in another run with a bases-loaded walk.
Crowley finished 3-4 with three runs scored, and Ferrari added three hits, three RBI and a pair of runs scored.
Westfield State will break for the Easter weekend before traveling to Salem State on Monday for another conference doubleheader. Framingham will play at Fisher College on Saturday.