WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State University received strong pitching performances from Bret Siflinger and Mike Molta in sweeping Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 6-2, 5-0, in a baseball double header on Saturday, April 21.
 
Westfield evens its overall record to 15-15 and is 7-3 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC). Mass. Maritime is 11-15 and 3-7.
 
In the opener, Siflinger tossed a two-hitter in improving his record to 4-2. The junior right hander from Framingham allowed two walks and one earned run and struck out six in the seven-inning game.
 
Molta was nearly masterful on the mound as he allowed one hit, a leadoff single in the sixth inning. The freshman standout from Nantucket owns a 2-3 pitching record but his earned run average dropped to 1.46. Molta issued two walks, struck out five and did not allow a Buccaneer past first base. Mass. Maritime stranded only one runner and Westfield turned two double plays.
 
Junior outfielder Alex Cloutier, who delivered the game-winning hit vs, Salem this past Monday – a walk-off suicide squeeze bunt – was Westfield's hitting star. He was 4 for 6 with a triple and five RBI in the twinbill sweep.
 
In the opener, Westfield took a 1-0 second-inning lead when Kevin Greene pounded his first of two doubles and Cloutier clubbed an RBI single.
 
Mass. Maritime tied the score in the third when Hunter Horton drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second then third on groundouts, and scored on Bobby Rosano's infield single.
 
The Buccaneers scored an unearned run in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead, with Horton delivering an RBI single.
 
Westfield tied the score in the home half of the fourth when Greene doubled and scored on another Cloutier single.
 
The Owls pushed across four runs on four hits in the bottom of the sixth to pull out the key conference victory.
 
Andrew Medeiros delivered the game-winning hit, an RBI double down the left field line. Cloutier followed with an RBI single thru the right side, and freshman first baseman Dan Rokitowski rapped a key two-run single following two walks that loaded the bases.
 
Greene was 3 for 4 with two doubles and three runs scored and Cloutier was 3 for 3 with three RBI. Rokitowski was 2 for 4 in the Owls' 10-hit attack.
 
In the second game, the Owls gave Molta all the runs he needed with a four-run uprising in the first inning. Westfield had five hits in the nightcap, including three in the first frame.
 
The Owls scored all four runs after two outs and a runner on first. Josh Blair laced a two-run single to open the scoring and Cloutier clouted a two-run triple.
 
Westfield scored its final run in the fifth when Matt Kelly was hit by a pitch and raced home on Nick Champeau's double down the left field line.
 
Blair was 2 for 3 with two RBI as he was the only player in the second game with multiple hits.
 
Mass. Maritime second baseman Peter Sheppard broke up Molta's no-hit bid when he connected on a curve ball for a single to right-center to lead off the sixth inning.