Box Score
MANSFIELD, Conn. - James Wood (Windham, NH) hit a game-tying three-run home run with two out in the bottom of the fourth inning to spark the third-seeded and defending national champion Trinity College baseball team to a 6-4 win over sixth-seeded Westfield State College Wednesday afternoon on the opening day of the 2009 NCAA Division III New England regional tournament at the Eastern Connecticut State Baseball Stadium.
A winner of eight of its last nine, Trinity (30-5) advances in the winners’ bracket Thursday at 7:45 p.m. while Westfield (23-16) will play an elimination game Thursday at 1:35 p.m. vs. Husson College (31-13) of Bangor, Maine. Husson, the No. 7 seed, lost to Southern Maine, 5-4, in 10 innings on Wednesday night. If you are unable to make the trip to Mansfield, Conn., you can follow all the action live on the
Little East Conference Web site. The tournament championship page will provide full coverage of the New England Region with a link for real-time statistics and video broadcast for each of the games.
In earlier games Wednesday, fourth-seeded WPI trimmed fifth-seeded Suffolk University, 7-6, and eight-seeded Babson College upset top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University, 10-6.
Westfield righty Jesse Vermeersch (Marlboro, MA) carried a two-hitter into the fourth inning, then retired the first two hitters of that frame. Kent Graham (Longmeadow, MA) singled and Ryan Piacentini (Portland, ME ) walked, however, before Wood unloaded a 2-0 pitch over the scoreboard in left-center to tie the game for his fourth roundtripper of the season.
In the fifth, two walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases for Graham, who legged out an infield ground ball to give the Bantams the lead for good, 4-3.
In the sixth, Wood singled and pinch hitter Kevin Mortimer (Spencer, MA) drove him in with a double. Mortimer scored on successive wild pitches that pushed Trinity’s lead to 6-3.
Freshman lefty James Ramsey (Belmont, MA) limited Westfield to six hits and only two earned runs. He fanned five and walked three before departing after allowing two hits to open the seventh. Ramsey struggled early when the Owls scored in the first on two walks and a single, and moved out to a 3-0 lead with two unearned runs in the third on a two-out infield error and Pete Grillo’s (Shrewsbury, MA) two-run double to the base of the center field fence.
Trinity relievers Conor O’Sullivan-Pierce (Cambridge, MA) and Andrew Janiga (Ellington, CT) closed out the win for Ramsey by surrendering only two hits over the final three innings.
Westfield State players give high fives after taking an early 3-0 lead.
Trinity College leftfielder Jack Abbott robs Westfield State's Mike Trachtenberg of an extra basehit.
Photo By Bob Molta, Eastern Connecticut State University sports information director