LANTANA, Fla. – Graduate student Tom Walraven (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) blasted three doubles, including a walk-off RBI two-bagger in the bottom of the ninth inning as the No. 23 University of New Haven baseball team escaped with a 3-2 win over Caldwell to remain a perfect 10-0 on the season at the Santaluces Athletic and Aquatic Complex on Tuesday afternoon.
 
New Haven rides its first 10-game winning streak for the first time since the 2010 season when the Chargers won 10-straight in the span of two weeks; between Sunday, March 7 and Sunday, March 21.  In addition, New Haven stands as one of only two unbeaten teams in all of NCAA Division II this season, with Augustana (S.D.) (9-0) as the only other team without a loss thus far.
 
Walraven finished the day batting 3-for-4 at the plate while graduate student Jack Zagaja (Merrick, N.Y./St. Dominic) contributed with two hits, an RBI and a run scored. Freshman Andrew Cain (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) tacked on a hit with two walks and a run.
 
On the mound, senior Kellen Croce (Cheshire, Conn./Gunnery School) earned his first win of the season with an inning pitched and one strikeout. Sophomore Devon DiMascio (Mansfield, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) got the start for the Chargers and worked through 6.1 innings with two strikeouts while surrendering one earned run. Christopher Cerf suffered the loss for the Cougars with 0.2 innings pitched, two walks, one hit and one earned run.
 
The game was scoreless for the first six innings with New Haven making its biggest threat in the bottom of the first with three runners on base. New Haven committed two errors in the top of the third, however DiMascio worked out of the trouble, leaving two Cougars stranded on the base paths.
 
Caldwell scored the day's first run in the top of the seventh with an RBI single by Mason Marinello, however the Chargers never hung their heads despite a late Caldwell lead. In the bottom half of the eighth, Zagaja singled home sophomore Billy Huber (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) and eventually scored on a wild pitch as New Haven took the 2-1 lead heading into the final inning.
 
Caldwell wouldn't go down easy, leveling the game in the top of the ninth with a two-out, solo home run by Dustin Walicky with Croce in to close. Croce quickly bounced back, retiring the next batter with the score 2-2 headed to the ninth.
 
Cain drew a walk with a new pitcher to start off the bottom of the ninth before Walraven became the hero for the day, blasting a two-out pitch over the center fielders head to plate Cain who rounded third and scored from second base.
 
New Haven closes out its spring break trip with a doubleheader against Post at the Santaluces Athletic and Aquatic Complex tomorrow, March 14. First pitch against the Eagles is slated for 1:00 pm with the second game to follow.