NASHUA, N.H. – Junior right fielder Matthew Clawson (Tolland, Conn.) slammed the door on Newbury College's 8-6 victory over Becker College on day one of the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Baseball tournament.
Clawson got it done in all phases of the game. Not only did he record his conference leading fifth save of the season but went four-for-five with four RBIs including driving in pinch-hitter senior Joey Herer (Needham, Mass.) in the top of the ninth with the game-winner.
The Nighthawks jumped on the scoreboard first, plating three runs in the top of the first. Sophomore leftfielder Michael Dwyer (Hamden, Conn.) lead-off the ballgame reaching on a hit by pitch then advanced 90 feet on a passed ball before moving up to third on a single off the bat of Clawson. The Nighthawks were threatening with no one out and the heart of the order coming to the dish.
Senior backstop Patrick Curry (Hampstead, N.H.) kept the heat on Hawks' starter Jeff Dilorenzo roping an opposite field base hit to drive home Dwyer with the game's first run. Dilorenzo appeared as if he was going to minimize the damage retiring the next two batters however first year third baseman Steven Broy (Gorham, Maine) came through in the clutch, ripping a two-run single back where it came from, to pad the lead.
The Hawks answered with three runs in the home half of the frame to tie up the ballgame. Shortstop Mike Marcello (West Haven, Conn.) lined a two-out base-hit into right field to drive home leftfielder Eric Lajoie (Oakham, Mass.) and designated Weston Meehan (Thomson, Ga.). First baseman Tom Natoli (Suffern, N.Y.) also came in to score on the play on an overthrow at third.
But the score did not stay tied for very long. The Nighthawks pounced on the Hawks once again an inning later. After first year second baseman Cameron D'Agostino (Salisbury, Mass.) singled to left, Dwyer worked a two-out walk to give Clawson a chance with two ducks on the pond. The Connecticut native wasted no time and launched a towering high-fly that curtailed away from the left-fielder. When the ball came down in the parking lot, Clawson had his first homerun – second of his collegiate career – of the season and the Nighthawks had the three-run lead back.
The game stayed that way until Becker started to chip away at the Newbury lead, scratching a run across in the bottom of the fourth. Hawks' catcher Todd Tompkins (West Haven, Conn.) lined a two-out single up the middle that plated third baseman Tony D'Addio (West Haven, Conn.). Becker grabbed two runs two inning later to tie up the score once again as they knocked Newbury starter Chris Ninteau (Lisbon, Conn.) out of the game in the process.
However, junior right-hander Zach Griesche (Niskayuna, N.Y.) came on and held the Hawks at bay, tossing 2.1 innings allowing just one hit, before the Nighthawk bats came alive in the top of the ninth.
Determined not to have the game go into extra frames, Herer, pinch-hitting for D'Agostino, roped a hard-single into left field. Following a bunt single by first year shortstop Corey Keane (Tolland, Conn.) and a fielder's choice by Dwyer, Clawson pulled single into the vacant hole between shortstop and third to plate Herer with the go-ahead run. Two batters later senior first baseman Alex Chetelat (Farmington, Conn.) added an insurance run lining a single into left field as Dwyer, who was off on the pitch, came around to score from second with ease to give the Nighthawks the 8-6 lead.
After retiring the first two batters with ease in the bottom of the ninth, Clawson ran into a tad bit of trouble walking Meehan to put the tying run on base with Tompkins moving up a bag. But the right-hander was able to get Natoli to pop out to shortstop to end the game and send the Nighthawks onto the winner's bracket of the double elimination tournament.
Newbury will square off against, host, Daniel Webster College tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. The Nighthawks were 1-2 against the Eagles during the regular season with the one win coming in Nashua, N.H. on April 14th. Senior right-hander Alex Chetelat tossed a complete game, three-hitter allowing just one earned run while striking out a new career single-game high, nine Eagles.
Game Notes:
Newbury is 4-0 against Becker in 2012, outscoring the Hawks, 43-20 in four games…Senior outfielder Michael Dean (Wethersfield, Conn.) was outstanding in the win going three-for-four from the middle of the line-up...First year Steven Broy (Gorham, Maine) finished the afternoon two-for-five with two RBIs.