SPRINGFIELD, Mass. –

After a loss to Johnson & Wales yesterday, Coast Guard bounced right back with a tight extra inning victory over Western New England. For the Golden Bears of WNE, they move to 7-4 and will next face CNE foe Curry College on Saturday in a home double header.

For Coast Guard, a Drew Basque(Kealakekua, HI) 10th inning single to score Nathan Stafford(Jupiter, FL) was the dagger in the 10 inning thriller. 

Despite scoring the first run of the game, Coast Guard spent most of the day playing from behind, with WNE leading from the bottom of the first to the sixth by as many as four runs. Everytime CGA chipped away, the Golden Bears seemed to have an answer until a Rick Barkley(Seattle, WA) sacrifice fly scored Carson Cho(Haymarket, VA) in the 6th. Three innings earlier, Barkley cut the WNE lead to just two with a record breaking home run. The two run bomb over the centerfield wall for Barkley was the 19th of his illustrious career. Those 19 home runs break the previous Coast Guard Academy record of 18 set by 2023 graduate Blake Carroll.

After CGA tied the score at 7-7 in the 6th, they would be forced to play from behind yet again when Western New England answered with a run of their own in the 7th. A half inning later, CGA tied it right back up when Connor Cilento(Point Pleasant, NJ) came up with the bases loaded and put the ball in play, forcing an error by the Golden Bear defense, and allowing the tying run to score. 

In the bottom of the 8th, freshman southpaw John DiMarsico(Severna Park, MD) came in to pitch, inheriting no outs and a man on first. DiMarsico retired the next three batters in order, striking out the last. After a scoreless top of the 9th, DiMarsico sent the game to extras by striking out two more Golden Bears and getting the third to fly out. 

In extras, Coast Guard got their bats going right away with a Nate Stafford single. Stafford stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on an error, and a walk of Rick Barkley would set the stage for junior catcher Drew Basque. Basque came up clutch with a single to left center to score Stafford.

John DiMarsico would seal the deal in the bottom of the inning, escaping a jam to lead the Bears to victory. John struck out the first batter, hit the next, and struck out the third. In a great pitcher/batter dual, DiMarsico walked Canon Marshall(Enfield, CT) after 13 pitches before forcing a game clinching pop up to Connor Cilento on the first pitch to the next batter.

Cho, Basque, Cilento, and Luke Percifield(Pinellas Park, FL) each had a pair of hits for CGA with Barkley leading the way with three hits and three RBI. 

On the mound, Coast Guard did not allow an earned run for the final six innings of play. The aforementioned John DiMarsico closed out the final three innings but bridging the gap to him were sophomore Jackson Dorsey(Newark, DE) and junior Tyler Michalek(Haslet, TX). Dorsey struck out four in 2.1 innings with Michalek K'ing one in ? of an inning pitched.

Coast Guard(7-4) will travel to Brandeis on Saturday for a doubleheader, with first pitch for game one scheduled for 12:00 PM.