Owls Fall to MCLA, 5-4

WESTFIELD, Mass. – MCLA senior Austin Rachiele (Pittsfield, Mass.) hit for the cycle as the Owls ninth inning comeback attempt fell short in a 5-4 loss to the Trailblazers on Sunday afternoon from North Adams, Mass.

The Owls, playing their sixth game in the last six days, drop to 10-15 overall and 5-5 in the conference. MCLA improves to 8-17 on the year and 2-8 in the league.

With Westfield trailing by two runs heading into the ninth inning, the Owls attempted to form a comeback. Nick Marshall (Reading, Mass.) connected on a one-out double, then two batters later, Dan Burnett (Granville, Mass.) kept the game alive with an RBI double to cut the deficit to a single run. However, MCLA reliever James Sneyd (Abington, Mass.) was able to cap his extended appearance out of the pen with a ground out to secure the win for the Trailblazers.

Rachiele got the scoring started with a solo home run in the first to put the Trailblazers up 1-0. Nolan Florence (Chicopee, Mass.) tied the game with a sac fly in the second to drive in Burnett.

MCLA regained the lead in the third inning after a sacrifice fly to center from Jayco Pena (Salem, Mass.), then Ty Mazzeo (Averill Park, N.Y.) laced a double to right to extend the Trailblazers lead to 3-1.

The score remained the same until the sixth inning when the Owls managed to tie the contest. Sean Clark (Dudley, Mass.) drew a walk with the bases loaded to score Burnett, then Justin Neidel (Attleboro, Mass.) was drilled by a pitch, resulting in the tying run in Devin Slattery (Ware, Mass.) to cross the plate.

The Trailblazers would answer the Owls scoring however in the seventh inning, with Rachiele at the center of the offensive production as he rocketed a triple into the gap to score the go-ahead run. Noel Medina (Bronx, N.Y.) added a run-scoring single to retake a two-run lead after seven innings.

Westfield turned to Michael Hall (Westfield, Mass.) for the start, delivering a solid outing after covering six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts. He was tagged with the losing decision. Sneyd (W, 1-1) pitched four innings out of the bullpen, giving up one run on three hits.

Westfield State will be back in action on Wednesday as the Owls travel to Elms College to meet the Blazers in a non-conference contest at 7:00 P.M.