WORCESTER, Mass. — 

The United States Coast Guard Academy baseball team fell at Clark University on Tuesday, 6-11, in both teams' New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener. Coast Guard held a 6-3 lead early, but a seven-run sixth inning allowed the Cougars to overpower their guests.

The Bears drop to 5-7 overall and begin their NEWMAC slate at 0-1, while Clark improves to 12-5 on the season and starts 1-0 in league play. With the Cougars' planned game tomorrow versus Nichols College (5-6) postponed, they can look forwards to next Tuesday's road trip to New London to complete their season series against Coast Guard.

Junior first baseman Nate Stafford (Jupiter, Fla.) and sophomore outfielder Max Van Auken (Franklinville, N.J.) both bashed homers in the losing effort as Stafford was 1-for-4 with a walk and intentional pass and Van Auken was 2-for-4 with a walk. Senior third baseman Luke Percifield (Pinellas Park, Fla.) was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI and junior hitter Ayden Gurevich (Lake Worth Beach, Fla.) went 2-for-4.

Clark saw four players record multiple hits in the contest, led by 3-for-5 days from Joseph Winakor and Michael Soares. Winakor was one of three Cougars with two RBIs on the day, joining Cole Camara and Brayden Hollinrake in that regard; the latter duo had two hits apiece. The team from Worcester won without recording an extra base hit.

Bears senior right-hander Tyler Michalek (Fort Worth, Tex.) was pinned for the loss after pitching 3.1 innings in relief and being tabbed for four runs allowed with three earned. Fellow senior righty Harrison Milbert (Kingston, Mass.) was a solid opener, going the first 2.1 innings and allowing three runs with one earned. Matthew Donahue was credited with the win after pitching three shutouts innings in relief.

Clark got on the board first in the bottom of the opening inning thanks to a Camara sac fly, but Percifield made it 1-1 with RBI double to bring sophomore outfielder Mason Phillips (Oak Park, Ill.) around in the top second. The Bears tacked five runs on in the top third, with back-to-back homers by Stafford and Van Auken opening the floodgates. Senior catcher Drew Basque (Kealakekua) contributed with an RBI double to drive in Gurevich. Clark cut the Coast Guard lead back down to 6-3 with a pair of RBI singles in the bottom half.

The home team erupted for seven runs in the sixth inning to turn the game on its head. On the way to making it a 10-6 ballgame, six of their seven runs scored in the frame were on RBI singles. Clark added one more in the bottom of the seventh to make it 11-6.

Bears baseball will look to bounce back on Thursday, March 26th, when they play their home opener against Albertus Magnus College (6-7) at 3:30 PM ET. Coast Guard has won their last nine meetings with the Falcons, including an 18-12 shootout in last year's match-up.