Owls Split Regular Season Finale at Salem

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Sam Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) recorded five hits and drove in three runs across both games as Westfield State split a doubleheader at Salem State in the MASCAC regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.

The Owls held off the Vikings in game two, winning in eight innings 7-6 after dropping the first game 4-3. Westfield, which finishes the regular season at 12-12 in the conference and 15-24 overall, will be the fifth seed in the upcoming MASCAC Tournament and will be at Bridgewater State to take on either Anna Maria or Worcester State in an elimination first round game on Thursday. The Vikings (20-15, 16-8 MASCAC) will be the second seed.

GAME 2

Palmer started and finished the scoring in the game, singling up the middle in the third for a 1-0 lead, and drove in the go-ahead run in the extra innings on a sacrifice fly. He also clubbed a solo home run in the seventh inning, an insurance run that ultimately kept Salem from walking off for the second time on the day.

Westfield stretched their lead in the fourth inning after a leadoff double from TJ May (North Granby, Conn.) and a bunt single by Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) put runners on the corners. Tyler Pegram (Fountain, N.C.) followed and singled back up the middle for a 2-0 lead. Nick Gouveia (Grafton, Mass.) added a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to three runs.

The Vikings got in the scoring column in the fourth on a single from Owen Duggan but May extended the Owls lead in the fifth with a two-run single for a 5-1 lead.

Antonio Belgrove drilled a two-run home run in the home half, and the Owls took a three-run lead into the seventh where Salem pulled off another late-inning comeback. A walk, infield hit, and a hit batter loaded the bases with nobody out, sending the winning run to the dish. Duggan singled into right to shave the Owls lead to one run, then a wild pitch tied the game, moving the winning run into second.

Called upon for the second time on the day, AJ Moore (Long Beach, Calif.) was able to send the game into extras, getting back-to-back strikeouts before a fielder's choice sent the game to the eighth inning.

The first three Owls reached base via walks, allowing Palmer to send home Antonio Scalise (Pittsfield, Mass.) on a one-out sac fly.

David Chaisson (Fishers, Ind.) was called upon to nail down the save and he did just that, working around a single from Belgrove by finishing the outing with a strikeout and a fly out to centerfield.

Griffin Pollard (Mystic, Conn.) got the start in game two, tossing 4.2 innings while allowing three runs on seven hits.

GAME 1

The Owls were up against Vikings ace Nolan Currier in game one and were able to chip across three runs, scoring once in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Nick Lenfest (Westfield, Mass.) scored Connor Benvenuto (New City, N.Y.) on a fielder's choice in the third, then Scalise grounded out in the fourth to bring in Martin. An infield hit from Chase Racine (Pittsfield, Mass.) in the fifth gave the Owls a 3-0 lead after five innings.

Sean McNamara (Lowell, Mass.) got the Owls off to a great start as a staff, pitching four scoreless innings while allowing one hit and five walks. He struck out four.

Still ahead 3-0 into the bottom of the sixth, Salem rallied for three runs to tie the game; a RBI single from Lucas Rincon followed by a two-out, two-RBI single from Jonny Payne. The Owls went down in order in the top of the seventh setting up the walk off for Salem in the bottom of the frame after two walks and a hit by pitch, then an Owls error allowed the game-winning run to cross home.

Moore was the losing pitcher while Currier improved to 6-0 after throwing a complete game.

Further updates regarding times for the MASCAC Tournament will be available at WestfieldStateOwls.com upon the conclusion of tomorrow's regular season games.