Worcester, Mass. – Host Clark University scored a total of 39 runs and banged out a combined 29 hits as it swept a doubleheader from visiting Norwich, 17-5 and 22-3 in a non-league baseball twinbill on Saturday afternoon at Granger Field.
The Cougars extended its winning streak to three games to improve to 11-6 overall, while the Cadets (0-9) remain in search of their first win of the season.
Junior Matt Bohl (Amherst, Mass.) had the biggest day of all the Cougars, going a combined 4-for-9 on the day with a pair of inside-the-park homeruns and eight RBI.
In addition to Bohl, Jeremy Gerber (Amherst, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with three walks and scored six runs in the two contests.
On the mound, Clark got a pair of solid pitching performances from a pair of freshmen to help in the victory. In game one, Brian Sullivan (Auburn, Mass.) gave up four runs in the first inning, but settled down after that and went four more innings without allowing another run and only one more hit in collecting his first career win.
In game two, first-year Saul Ramirez (New York, N.Y.) fanned seven batters and yielded just six hits in five innings of work in his first career win.
Things started off in fine fashion for the visiting Cadets who got to Sullivan with four runs in the opening frame, led by a two run single from Charles Schaub (East Hampton, Conn.).
The Cougars then answered back with 17 unanswered runs, including seven in the bottom of the first. Run scoring hits by both Peter Lewis (Gardiner, Maine) and Kevin Kopec (Katonah, N.Y.) preceded Bohl's first homerun of the day.
After a four-run third made the score 11-4, Shawn Lamothe (Bellingham, Mass.) drove in a run and Lewis had an RBI triple in the fourth along with an unearned run to make it 13-4.
Kopec recorded another RBI single in the fifth and that was followed by a two-run double by James Cadogan (Ipswich, Mass.).
Norwich's final run came in the seventh off of reliever Dan Vladimer (Lexington, Mass.), when Devin Cilley (Turnbridge, Vt.) drove in Dave Maxfield (Randolph, Vt.).
The Cougars didn't fall behind in the second game – in fact they scored 11 runs in the first, chasing Cadet starter Jonathan Philbrook (Rochester, Mass.) without him getting an out and allowing ten runs, only six of which were earned. Scott Hollingsworth (Tilton, N.H.), Nicholas Kellogg (Florence, Mass.), Justin Sharkey (Lynn, Mass.) and Charles Sakany (Vero Beach, Fla.) all contributed RBI in the inning.
Norwich got two runs back when Tyler Dyke (Lewiston, Maine) and Devin Shimkus (Collinsville, Ill.) each had run scoring hits in the second.
Clark tacked on six more runs in the fourth highlighted by a Bohl RBI triple, a Lewis RBI single and another from Sakany.
Bohl then connected for his second inside-the-park homerun in the sixth on a blast to right center.
The Cougars return to NEWMAC action on Tuesday when they host Wheaton, while the Cadets return to the diamond on Tuesday as well at Daniel Webster.