BRISTOL, R.I. —
The United States Coast Guard Academy baseball team picked up a 7-2 non-conference victory on Thursday, April 23rd, at Roger Williams University. Coast Guard took full advantage of a Hawks defense that allowed six errors on the way to the win.
The Bears improve to 13-15, while RWU moves to 13-17 following their fourth consecutive loss. The Hawks will look to bounce back on Saturday the 25th against Conference of New England opponents Wentworth Institute of Technology.
Coast Guard held their hosts to just four hits on the afternoon.
Harrison Milbert (Kingston, Mass.) set the tone with three innings of hitless ball, striking out two before eventually earning his first win of the season.
Jack Gausselin (Long Beach, Ind.) and
Jack Spinnato (Clearwater, Fla.) combined for 2.2 perfect innings in relief, with each tallying a strikeout along the way.
Nate Stafford (Jupiter, Fla.) posted two hits, one of them being a triple, while driving in two runs to lead the CGA offense.
Carson Cho (Harmarket, Va.) posted a pair of doubles and drove in a run, and
Tate Scherer (Mystic, Conn.) also nailed a two-bagger as part of a 2-for-5 day.
Hudson Hauck (Wilmington, N.C.) crossed the plate twice for the Bears.
Ayden Gurevich (Lake Worth Beach, Fla.) started a two-run opening inning for the Bears with an RBI single to center field. Coast Guard got their second run on some chaos caused by a double steal, which saw
Max Van Auken (Franklinville, N.J.) swipe third and then advance to home on an error by the Hawks second baseman.
A sacrifice fly by
Mason Phillips (Oak Park, Ill.) in the second extended the lead to 3-0, but RWU got one back in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI ground out with the bases loaded. Coast Guard responded with a three-run sixth to open it up. The Bears loaded the bases and the first run scored when a Cho hit was misplayed by the right fielder. Stafford followed with an RBI sac fly to center field, and the third run scored when an attempt by the Hawks catcher in an effort to throw out a stealing Cho sailed wide.
Stafford struck again in the eighth by ripping an RBI triple to extend the Bears lead to 7-1. An RBI single for the Hawks in the bottom of the ninth got one more back for the home side.
Coast Guard baseball returns to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday the 25th by hosting two against Salve Regina University (27-4, 9-2 NEWMAC). The Seahawks are entering the twinbill ranked as the #3 team in the nation by both the National College Baseball Writers Association and the American Baseball Coaches Association. The two teams split last season's series in Newport before Salve prevailed over the Bears in the conference playoffs, 6-1.
