April 19, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - The Gulls took on the Golden Bears of Western New England College this afternoon and were able to outlast a late run by the Golden Bears to pull out a 6-5 victory. The win brings the Gulls record to 17-14 on the season while the Golden Bears drop to 25-8. The Gulls were leading by five runs in the top of the ninth inning and were able to hold off the late charge by WNEC with freshman Dave Weinreich (Milford, CT/Jonathan Law) picking up his first save of the season.
The Gulls were able to get on the board in the second inning when junior Joe Orlando (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) had a double with one out and sophomore Adam Labbe (Litchfield, ME/Oak Hill Regional) drove him in two batters later. The Golden Bears answered in the top of the fourth when sophomore Ryan Kravontka (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) singled home junior Garrison Ward (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo).
The Gulls had two big hits from the middle of their lineup in the sixth and seventh innings. Freshman Joe Paciello (Worcester, MA/St. Peter Marian) homered to right center field that scored three runs and gave the Gulls some breathing room with the score 4-1. The next inning senior Matt Bishop (Woburn, MA/Woburn) homered to left with two outs that increased that lead to 6-1.
Weinreich came on in relief of Bishop, who started the game and pitched seven solid innings. Weinreich had an easy first inning of relief in which he retired the first three batters he faced. He ran into some trouble after he struck out the lead off hitter in the top of the ninth. The Golden Bears had a walk and four straight hits that scored four runners and made it 6-5. With the go-ahead run at the plate, Weinreich was able to get Golden Bears junior Tom Horgan (Westfield, MA/Westfield) to ground into the game ending double play.
The Gulls have a couple of days off before they return to conference action this weekend when they face Wentworth Institute of Technology on Saturday April 22, 2006 at 12:00pm in a double header at home. They finish the regular season conference schedule the next day when they play host to their conference rival Salve Regina University. First pitch on Sunday is also scheduled for 12:00pm.
