SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — 

In their first game back in New England, the United States Coast Guard Academy baseball team split with Westfield State University by scores of 2-3 in game one and 3-0 in game two. The Owls walked off the opener in eight innings before being silenced in the Coast Guard's pitching in the chaser as both games were neutral site

The Bears moved to 3-4 following the split, while Westfield State exited the day with a 2-6 record. The Owls will play two again tomorrow against SUNY New Paltz (4-4) at Trinity College.

Game 1: Bears 2, Westfield State 3 (8 Inn.); Box Score

Coast Guard was limited to five hits in their first game of the day, with freshman shortstop Yadisson Kabalaieasghar (Coral Springs, Fla.) knocking two of them. Junior first baseman Nate Stafford (Jupiter, Fla.) was 1-for-3 with a double and sophomore infielder Max Van Auken (Franklinville, N.J.) drove in a run as part of his 1-for-4 day. Kaen Smith and Sam Palmer made up half of the Owls eight hits with their pair of 2-for-3 days, with Smtih driving in a run.

Senior right-hander Raymond Priddy (Chico, Calif.) got the start for the Bears and allowed an earned run while striking out five over six full innings of work before he was relieved by sophomore righty Jackson Dorsey (Newark, Del.), who was pegged with the loss after allowing Westfield's game-winning run. Sean McNamara also went six full while allowing a hit and sending down five as the Owls' starter before AJ Moore picked up the win with a scoreless two innings of work.

Smith put his team on the board first with his RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, but Coast Guard took a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth. With a runner on, Stafford hit a double to left field to put Bears on second and third for Van Auken. He produced a grounder to second base, but an error allowed him to reach safely, Stafford to advance to third, and the Bears to tie it at one. A wild pitch on the next at-bat allowed Stafford to come around for the one-run lead.

It didn't take too long for Westfield to tie it back up. With a runner on third and one out in the bottom of the sixth, Chase Racine hit into a fielder's choice with the throw home being late. Racine did it again with a runner on in the bottom of the eighth, but the other runner was able to advance to third on a Bears error. All it took was a Colin Ryan single to left field for the Owls to walk off game one.

Game 2: Bears 3, Westfield State 0; Box Score

A combined two-hit shutout by sophomore lefty John DiMarsico (Severna Park, Md.) and freshman righty Alexander Smith (Fairfield, Ohio) was backed up by six hits from the Coast Guard lineup. Van Auken and Stafford both tallied RBIs in game two, with Van Auken going 2-for-3 at the plate and Stafford ripping another double in four ABs. Junior infielder Carson Cho (Haymarket, Va.) was 2-for-4 with two runs scored out of the two-hole, and sophomore outfielder Mason Phillips (Oak Park, Ill.) picked up the other Bears hit.

DiMarsico struck out two in five innings of work while Smith struck out one over the remaining two frames. An efficient day for the duo saw them face just one more than the minimum 21 batters for a seven-inning outing. Palmer and Nick Lenfest tallied the two hits for Westfield State. Andre Phaneuf allowed all three runs (two earned), five hits, and two walks while striking out four during his opening four innings of work, while Ryan Peters and Dan Provost combined for one hit allowed and three strikeouts over the final two innings.

Coast Guard took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third. Stafford got it started by driving in Cho on his double to left field before Van Auken followed up to bring him around with a single through the right side. The Bears added their third run in the fifth after Cho led off with a single and then made it over to second on a 1-3 ground out and then to third on a wild pitch. He crossed home after a grounder to shortstop was misplayed.

The most pressure DiMarsico faced on the day came in the first inning, when Palmer singled to center field and then stole second, but the crafty lefty got Racine to roll an inning-ending ground out. He was perfect until Smith relieved him in the sixth, and the freshman made quick work of his first inning of the day by inducing a double play from Ryan following Lenfest's one-out single.

Bears baseball will hit the road once again on Tuesday, March 17th, for their annual rivalry game with the United States Merchant Marine Academy (3-2). This season's edition of the meeting will be played in Kings point at 6:30 PM ET. Coast Guard broke a three-game win streak in the series for the Mariners last year with a 10-3 victory.