MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Graduate student
Tom Walraven (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) went yard twice to power the University of New Haven baseball team past the Felician University Golden Ravens, 10-6 in the Northeast Challenge finale at the Ripken Experience on Sunday. New Haven returns home with a 4-0 record for the second-straight season, outscoring opponents 54-10 during the four-game stretch.
Walraven's home runs resulted in four RBI and also scored a team-high three runs for the Blue and Gold. Sophomore
Matt Chamberlain (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) also had a pair of hits and also crossed the plate once. Junior
Andrew Garcia (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) and freshman
Rob Giovanelli (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) each had RBI singles, and juniors
PJ Contreras (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) and
Dylon Grzenda (North Attleboro, Mass./North Attleboro) had one RBI each.
Sophomore
Devon DiMascio (Mansfield, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) got the start on the mound and earned his first win of the season with 5.0 innings of work and four strikeouts. After freshman
Andrew Cain (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) came in for an inning, sophomore
Brandon LaManna (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) pitched through 1.2 innings, recording three strikeouts. Freshman
Cam Guarino (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) also made his second appearance, and senior
Kellen Croce (Cheshire, Conn./Gunnery School) closed out the game with two strikeouts in the final three batters faced.
Jacob Nappi suffered the loss for the Golden Falcons, dropping to 0-2 on the season.
Felician caught the Chargers off-guard early, putting the first and second batters on base before
Matt Diesel homered to right field to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. With the bases cleared, DiMascio retired the next two batters to end the inning. New Haven leveled the score in the bottom of the second with senior
Joe Caico (Hopedale, Mass./Worcester (MA)) getting things started with an infield single and Garcia walked to put runners on first and second. Caico scored first on a Golden Falcon error and Contreras and Grzenda hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to score Garcia and Giovanelli.
DiMascio went 1-2-3 back out on the mound in the top of the third before New Haven took the lead when Walraven sent his first home run of the day, a solo shot, over the left field fence. On the field, DiMascio retired the side for two additional innings before New Haven had another big inning in the bottom half of the fifth. Chamberlain and sophomore
Billy Huber (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) each reached base, followed by another round-tripper by Walraven that stretched the Charger lead to four runs. The Chargers added one more run in the inning when Zagaja scored on a wild pitch.
Felician cut into the lead in the top half of the sixth inning with two runs, but the Chargers answered with two more in the bottom of the seventh with RBI singles by Garcia and Giovanelli. The Golden Lions got one more run in the top of the eighth but the New Haven pitching staff retired the final four Felician batters to hang on for the 10-6 win.
After the trip back to West Haven, the Chargers return to action for a non-conference, three-game series against Mercy with a single game on Friday, March 2 at Mercy Field at 3:00 pm and a Sunday doubleheader with first pitch set for 12:00 pm. The Blue and Gold will then come back to West Haven for the home opener on Tuesday, March 6 for a non-conference game against Bridgeport.
