Westfield State’s Danny DiMatteo lands on homeplate after colliding with the Babson catcher to tie the score at 8-8. (Photo by Mickey Curtis)
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Westfield State University baseball team concluded its Florida trip with a big doubleheader sweep of Babson College on Saturday, March 15. The Owls won the opener, 2-1, and rallied from an early five-run deficit to win the second game in 12 innings, 11-9, to even their record at 5-5 as they head home.
In the opener, Westfield received a strong pitching performance from sophomore Pete Liimatainen to edge Babson in its season opener. Liimatainen hurled six innings, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out five.
Senior Kevin Zyrkowski earned the save by pitching a tidy 1-2-3 last inning. Zyrkowski also earned a victory on the day as he closed the second game with six scoreless innings.
Babson scored its only run in the first inning. The leadoff batter was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a double and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Westfield knotted the score in the home half of the second when cleanup hitter Tim Santilli smashed a triple over the center fielder’s head and scored on Danny DiMatteo’s RBI groundout.
The Owls scored the winning run in the fifth frame with the aid of two hit-and-run plays called by first-year head coach Nathan Bashaw. Connor Sheridan laced a one-out single and scampered to third when Kyle Colesanti tomahawked a high pitch through the open hole left by the second baseman. With Colesanti running from first base, Dan McCormack then delivered the game-winning hit, a single through a wide open right side to plate Sheridan.
The extra-inning second game that lasted four hour and 20 minutes was entertaining despite 20 walks (12 by Westfield pitchers) and three hit batters. Zyrkowski, the sixth and final Westfield pitcher, came up huge in the comeback victory; he allowed two hits and four walks and fanned three in his six-inning stint.
Trailing 7-2 after three innings, the Owls scored a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth on a balk, bases-loaded walk and sacrifice fly to close within a run, 7-6. Babson scored a run in the bottom of the fifth to take an 8-6 lead.
Westfield tied the score at 8-all with two sixth-inning runs on Sheridan’s sacrifice fly and E.G. McMillan’s pinch hit RBI single.
Babson regained the lead with a run in the sixth, but Westfield responded with a run in the seventh inning of the scheduled seven-inning game. Santilli singled with two outs and pinch runner Kyle Murphy advanced to third on a throwing error on an infield throwing error. Shane Lynch then blooped a single to right field to knot the score at 9-9.
The Owls finally scored two runs in the fifth extra inning. Sheridan swatted a one-out single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Jeremy Tanguay was hit by a pitch then reserve catcher Dan Whigham delivered the game-winning hit, a sharp single to left field. McCormack added an insurance run with an RBI single down the left field line.
Sheridan posted big numbers for the Owls, going 4 for 5 with four runs scored and an RBI. The sophomore from South Hadley had Westfield’s only extra basehit, a double. McCormack was 2 for 5 with four big RBI and DiMatteo and Santilli both rapped two singles. Pat McWilliams had two hits in eight official plate appearances as he was one of the few players not to draw a walk.
Both teams stranded 18 base runners. Twenty-two of Westfield’s 30 players were in the box score as Coach Bashaw had one pitcher and one position player remaining on his lineup card.
