Elms Steals Series Finale vs. Baseball

HOLYOKE, Mass. – The Elms College baseball squad overcame an early strike from visiting Mitchell College and rallied to a 5-4 victory in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) game at MacKenzie Stadium Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Blazers improved to 8-10 overall and 3-5 in NECC play, while the Mariners fell to 15-3 and 8-1 in conference action.

Mitchell wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Kenneth Olszewski blasted a e-run home run following a leadoff walk to Gavin LaLima and a single from Kyle Hartenstein in the first inning. The Mariners tacked on another run in the second on a sacrifice fly from Peter McTernan to make it a 4-0 game.  

The Blazers ignited their comeback in the bottom of the third with a single from Kevin Dwire followed by back-to-back hit batters in Brady Forrest and Tim Gelzinis to load the bases. Geoff Frost then stepped to the dish and laced a 2-1 offering from Mitchell starter Axel De Jesus into the gap for a bases-clearing double, cutting the deficit to 4-3 after three innings.  

Elms completed its rally in the bottom of the fourth as Michael Bombard led the inning off with a single and came around to score when Nolan Medeiros survived a rundown after a single. The Blazers pulled ahead 5-4 when a Mitchell fielding miscue allowed Medeiros to score the decisive run.  

The Blazers escaped jams in the eighth and ninth as the Mariners put runners in scoring position. In the eighth, Mitchell loaded the bases with one out, but Hartenstein laced a ball right at Elms first baseman Jordan Zima, who made the catch and tagged the bag for the inning-ending double play. In the ninth, Olszewski advanced all the way to third before reliever Brian Langdon induced a game-ending pop up to secure the 5-4 victory.  

Bombard led the Blazers at the dish, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base. Frost knocked in three runs while Medeiros, Zima, Dwire, RJ Lyrenmann and sophomore Stephen Harrison each added hits. Elms starter Tom Weldon earned his third win of the season, allowing four runs on 11 hits with four strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work, while Langdon recorded his third save of the year. De Jesus took the loss, surrendering five runs (four earned) with four strikeouts in 6.0 innings.  

Mitchell will next host Albertus Magnus College in non-conference play on Wednesday, April 15 at 2:00 p.m.