03/28/2009
Late Inning Rallies Lift Coast Guard Past Baseball

WORCESTER, MASS. 3/28/09 - A pair of late inning rallies enabled the Coast Guard Academy to sweep Clark University, 6-4 and 6-5, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) doubleheader played at Clark's Granger Field on Saturday afternoon.

The victories improve Coast Guard to 6-11 overall and 2-2 in the conference. Clark drops to 8-12 (1-3 NEWMAC).

In the opener, Clark held a 4-1 lead entering the fifth inning. Nicholas Kellogg's (Florence, Mass.) two-run triple and a sacrifice fly by Brendan Solecki (Portsmouth, R.I.) gave the Cougars a 3-1 advantage in the second.

Then Clark added a run when Phil DiMarco (Bellingham, Mass.) roped a two-out triple down the right field line and came home on Mitch DeLorenzo's (Berlin, Conn.) RBI single in the third.

However, the Bears knotted the game at 4-4 with a four-run fifth. Nic Freeburg (Palm Harbor, Fla.) drove in a run with a triple, Ryan Milligan (Shamong, N.J.) brought home a run with a single, and a costly Clark error, followed by a sacrifice fly out by junior Keith Laird (West Chester, Pa.) plated the final two runs.

Milling snapped the 4-4 deadlock with a bases-loaded two-run single in the top of the eighth to ensure the 6-4 victory.

Clark had a chance to break even, but left two runners on base in the bottom of the frame.

DiMarco had three hits for Clark.

Pete Schofield (Warwick, R.I.) earned the complete game victory for the Bears. He allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits, while fanning four and walking but two.

Dave Gagnon (Harwich, Mass.) (1-1) suffered his first loss of the season.

In the nightcap, Clark gave up a 5-0 lead after four innings. Coast Guard scored three in the fifth and one in the sixth, before plating the eventual game-winning runs in the seventh. Trailing 5-4 in the frame, Joe Petry (Worcester, Mass.), who reached on a single to right, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a groundout. After Brian Yurovich (Marlboro, Mass.) was intentionally walked, Bill Birch (Hamilton, N.J.) singled to score Petry tying the game at 5-all. Yurovich later scored the game-winning run on an error by Clark's shortstop.

DeLorenzo went 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead Clark, while Steve DeMartino (East Haven, Conn.) and Matt Tillo (Osterville, Mass.) both drove in a pair of runs.

Jesse Karr (Milan, Mich.) earned the win on the mound for the Bears.

Jon Merritt (East Bridgewater, Mass.) (2-3) suffered the loss.