Baseball Advances Past Elms at NECC Championship

NASHUA, N.H. – Top-seeded Daniel Webster College and second-seeded Mitchell College each earned opening day victories at the New England Collegiate Conference baseball tournament on Friday at Harvey Woods Field.

Daniel Webster, the defending champion, topped fourth-seeded Becker College, 3-1, in the day's opener. Mitchell held off third-seeded Elms College, 7-6, in the nightcap.

Becker and Elms will meet in an elimination game on Saturday beginning at 10:00 a.m., while the Eagles and Mariners will face off at 1:00 p.m. The day concludes with an elimination game at 4:00 p.m.

The tournament, which automatically sends its champion to the NCAA Tournament, concludes on Sunday.

Game 1: Daniel Webster 3, Becker 1

The host Eagles (25-9 overall) were backed by another superb complete-game effort from senior Greg Dubela, who remained undefeated on the season and improved to 8-0. He scattered five hits and allowed one run unearned run while striking out five and walking two.
 
Dubela was locked for the most part in a pitching duel with Becker's Nick Lemay, who was solid throughout in limiting the Eagles to just three hits on the day. He took the loss (3-4) and struck out three while walking three.

Becker (11-25 overall) took the lead in the fourth as Chris Flanders stroked a two-out double to right, moved to third on an Austin Phillips single, and scored on an infield error.

DWC finally made the best of its three hits with a pivotal and game-changing sixth inning, keyed by the bat of Darrik Marstaller. Joe Morin reached on a fielder's choice for the first out, Josh Chasse singled, and Marstaller cranked a line drive that hugged the left field line to score both and give the Eagles the 2-1 lead. After Kyle Brigham grounded out to move Marstaller to third, Elliot Kilgore drew a walk and then combined for a double steal, allowing Marstaller to swipe home for the third run.

From there, Dubela, who lowered his season ERA to a miniscule 1.07, allowed just two base runners, while Lemay allowed just one.

Game 2: Mitchell 7, Elms 6

In the second game of the day, junior Kenneth Olszewski went 3-for-4 with a double and knocked in three runs, sophomore Rafael Garcia belted a solo homer, and freshman Nova Crespo added three hits as the Mariners (22-12-1 overall) held off the Blazers (19-18 overall).

Junior Marc Dorsi added two hits while freshman Neftali Arroyo knocked in a run for the winners. Freshman Al Jordan Johnson earned the victory (6-3 overall), allowing four earned runs on nine hits and striking out two while walking three over 8.1 innings. 

Sam Farnsworth paced the Blazers with a pair of hits, including a three-run bomb in the top of the ninth that tightened a 7-3 game to the 7-6 final. Dan McCormack and Alex King added a pair of hits and knocked in a run apiece, while Steve Fisher had two hits.

Derek Leal took the loss (3-4) for the Blazers.

After the teams traded runs in the first, Elms forged ahead with two in the top of the fifth behind RBI singles from King and McCormack. Garcia led off the bottom of the frame with his solo shot to left for a 3-2 game, and Dorsi and Olszewski followed with a single and double, respectively. Dorsi scored on a wild pitch to tie the game and, after two quick outs, Arroyo doubled to score Olszewski to put the Mariners on top 4-3.

Mitchell plated two unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth as sophomore Gavin LaLima and freshman Eddie Lorah each crossed the plate. The Mariners then got much-needed insurance with Olszewski's RBI single to score Dorsi in the eighth.