WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Graduate student lefthander Nate Barnes (Westfield. Mass.) tossed eight innings to earn the win and Colin Dunn (Westfield, Mass.) homered as Westfield State stopped local rival Elms College, 4-2 on Wednesday afternoon at Bud and Jim Hagan Field.
Barnes allowed just four hits with one earned run and no walks while striking out four to earn his second win of the season. Junior Jamie Butler worked a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his fourth save of the season.
Westfield struck for a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, as Jared Ferrari (Waltham, Mass.) walked and Dunn launched a high-arching fly ball over the left field fence.
The Owls put men on base all afternoon, but struggled to bring them around to score, leaving 11 on base. The Owls added a single run in the second as Jake Gibb (Stoughton, Mass.) doubled to lead off the inning and later scored on Ferrari's sacrifice fly to center.
Westfield scratched for another run in the fifth as John Lippincott (NW Reg./Barkhamsted, Conn.) drew a one out walk, advanced on a walk to Kyle Murphy (Westfield, Mass.), and scored on Gibb's single to centerfield.
Elms tallied both of their runs in the sixth getting back to back base hits to lead off the inning from Jaeden Rasmus (Central/Bristol, Conn.) and Brandon Bennett (Easthampton, Mass.). Both advanced when Barnes throwing error allowed Andy Vasquez (Knox School/Queens, NY) to reach after a sacrifice bunt attempt, but the Owls lefty settled back in, inducing a ground out from Ben Ross (Woodstock/Thompson, Conn.) that scored one run, another ground out from Alex Hoss (Stafford Springs, Conn.) to score the second run, then punctuated the inning by striking out Thomas Slane (Tolland, Conn.) to end the threat.
Ferrari, Dunn and Gibb each recorded a pair of hits for the Owls. Ferrari reached four times in five trips, adding a walk and a HBP.
For Elms, starter Kevin Banas (Smith Acad./Hatfield, Mass.) (0-1) took the loss, working three innings in his first pitching appearance of the season.
Westfield State is scheduled to play Worcester State in the first MASCAC doubleheader of the year on Friday, with a scheduled 9:45 AM start time at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Mass. Check WestfieldStateOwls.com for the latest Owls schedule updates.