Baseball Sweeps University of Saint Joseph on Senior Day

HOLYOKE Mass. - The Elms College Baseball team hosted the University of Saint Joseph, Conn. for a conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon for their annual Senior Day.

BASICS
Game 1
Score: Elms College 1 | University of St. Joseph, Conn. 0
Records: Blazers 10-17, 4-9 (GNAC) | Blue Jays 21-12, 10-5 (GNAC)

Game 2
Score: Elms College 4 | University of St. Joseph, Conn. 0
Records: Blazers 11-17, 5-9 (GNAC) | Blue Jays 21-13, 10-6 (GNAC)

PRIOR TO THE GAME

The Elms College Baseball team hosted their annual Senior Day, where they honored their five seniors; pitcher Colby Arnold (Waterford, Conn.), outfielder/pitcher Nason Busca (Windsor, Conn.), infielder/pitcher Andrew Ciaglo (Hadley, Mass.), infielder/pitcher Chase Prestia (Newington, Conn.), and Justin Saad (Waterford, Conn.), along with their loved ones.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
Ciaglo would start for Elms in the opening game of the doubleheader, where he would start the game with a swinging strikeout. In the bottom of the first, junior infielder Manny Essley (Duxbury, Mass.) would earn a walk, but the Blazers would not be able to score in the inning. In the second inning, senior outfielder Noah Scanlon-Dean (Hadley, Mass.) would hit a single up the middle and would advance to second base on a throwing error. First year infielder Colin Faber (Suffield, Conn.) would reach base on a fielder's choice and would steal second base, but the game would remain scoreless. In the bottom of the fourth inning, first year catcher Eliam Martinez (Dominican Republic) would lead off with a single through the left side, followed by sophomore pitcher/infielder Brycen Diaz (Andrews, Texas) reaching base on an error committed by shortstop, a second single by Scanlon-Dean, and a walk to Faber. In the bottom of the fifth inning, first year infielder Aidan Daugherty (Southwick, Mass.) would earn a walk, advance to second and third base after a second throwing error by the USJ pitcher. Then after a wild pitch, Daugherty would score a run to give Elms the lead. In the sixth inning, Arnold would relieve Ciaglo on the mound, recording a looking strikeout in the inning. In the seventh inning, the Blue Jays would see two runners in scoring position, but a fly ball to right field would be caught by Busca to earn the first victory of the day.

Game 2
B.Diaz would take the ball for the Blazers in the second game of the afternoon and he would end the inning with a swinging strikeout. The two conference foes would battle until the third inning, when B.Diaz would a looking strikeout in the top half of the inning,  followed by sophomore outfielder/infielder Liam Pond (Holyoke, Mass.) would hit a single to center field, first year outfielder Anthony Osella (Manchester, Conn.) would reach base on a fielder's choice, and Ciaglo would hit a single through the right side. Osella and Ciaglo would both steal a base and then Osella would score on a wild pitch to give Elms a 1-0 lead. In the fourth inning, Martinez would hit a single to left field, but the Blazers would not be able to extend their lead. In the fifth inning, neither team would score, then in the sixth inning, B.Diaz would end the inning with a looking strikeout, Ciaglo would earn a walk and Martinez would hit a two-run home run to left field. B.Diaz would hit a single up the middle, but St. Joseph would find the final out to end the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Pond would hit a single to left field and would steal second base. Then with a 1-1 count, Ciaglo would hit a single to left center field to drive in Pond. In the eighth inning, junior pitcher Ryan Ziegler (Uncasville, Conn.) would relieve B.Diaz on the pitcher's mound and the Elms defense would record a 1-2-3 inning and in the bottom half of the inning, first year outfielder Raynel Rodriguez (San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic) would hit a lead off single bunt, but the inning would end scoreless. Then in the top of the ninth inning, Blue Jays would put two runners on base, but Ziegler would throw back-to-back strikeouts, including one on appeal, to win the second game 4-0.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Rodriguez: a hit and a walk.

• Essley: a walk.

• Martinez: three hits, with a home run, a run scored, and two runs batted-in.

• B.Diaz: a hit at the plate, would pitch seven scoreless innings with three strikeouts in Game 2.

• Pond: two hits, a run scored, and a stolen base.

• Scanlon-Dean: two hits.

• Faber: a walk and a stolen base.

• Daugherty: a run scored and a walk.

• Osella: a run scored and a stolen base.

• Ciaglo two hits, a run scored, a run batted-in, a walk, and a stolen base at the plate, would pitch five scoreless innings, with a strikeout, to earn the win in Game 1

• Arnold: would pitch two scoreless innings, with a strikeout, to earn the save in Game 1.

• Ziegler: would pitch two scoreless innings, with two strikeouts in Game 2.

UP NEXT: The Elms Baseball team will travel to New London, N.H. for a conference doubleheader at Colby-Sawyer College on Wednesday, April 22nd at 12 & 3 pm.

--

For continuing coverage of Elms College Athletics, visit www.ecblazers.com and follow the Blazers on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.