Trailblazers Go Down at Salem State

The MCLA Trailblazers were defeated, 9-1 and 16-4 by the Salem State Vikings in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference twinbill on Saturday afternoon at the Salem State Baseball Field.  The victories give the Vikings a 26-8-1 record, and bolsters their conference record at 6-3.  The loss drops the Trailblazers to 11-19, and 2-7 in the MASCAC.

In game one, five Vikings recorded at least two hits as Salem State jumped on top 6-0 and cruised to an easy 9-1 win.

Salem State scored first in the 2nd inning when Matt Burgess (Kingston, MA) and Ryan Beliveau  (Lynn, MA) both produced RBI-hits. Brett Cahill (Gloucester, MA), (groundout) and Nick Conti (Lynn, MA) (single) brought home two more runs in the 3rd to increase Salem State's lead to 4-0.

MCLA broke the shutout when Chase Preite blasted a homerun in the 5th.

Dale Clark came on to pitch relief for the Trailblazers in the 6th inning., but a Steve Buitkus (Reading, MA), (double), and Brett Cahill (groundout), and Salines (single) each knocked in a run to make it a 9-1 game.

The Vikings' Matt Kerr (East Freetown, MA) got the win, to go to 8-0 this season.  He pitched a complete-game, seven-inning gem. He allowed just one run on three hits to go with seven strikeouts.  Ross Miner threw five innings for the Trailblazers, giving up six earned runs on nine hits with one strikeout and one walk in the loss.

Cody Weaver and Sean Coyle both had a hit and walk in game one for MCLA.

At the back end of a doubleheader, the Salem State Vikings roared to a 16-4 over MCLA in game two. Brett Cahill (Gloucester, MA) and Ethan Trowt (Beverly, MA) combined for six-hits to lead an 18-hit attack.

Chris Cocci (Wakefield, RI) started things off for the Vikings when he hit a grounder to bring a run home in the 1st inning and Nick Conti (Lynn, MA) followed with a sacrifice fly for a quick 2-0 lead. In the 2nd Steve Buitkus (Reading, MA) crushed an RBI-double to center field, and a Cocci  triple scored two more as Salem State built a 6-0 lead.

The Trailblazers scored a pair of runs in the top of the 3rd on a Rory Slattery groundout and an RBI single by Coyle that kept the game within reach, but Ethan Trowt (Beverly, MA) tacked on a Vikings' run with an RBI hit to make it 7-2 after three.

MCLA's Joe Duncan hit an RBI-single in the 4th inning to give his team a third run, and the Trailblazers replaced their starter Daniel Gaines, who went three innings and allowed seven runs, five earned, on seven hits, with Alon Willing.  Derek Lescarbeu hit an RBI-single in the 5th for MCLA, as Ryan Hyjek (Tolland, CT) came on in relief for Salem State.

Ed Deren (Westford, MA) started for Salem State and earned the win after he threw 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts.  MCLA's Daniel Gaines pitched three innings giving up seven runs, five earned, on seven hits.

The Vikings play another doubleheader Tuesday at Framingham State beginning at 2:30PM while the Trailblazers also play a doubleheader on Tuesday when they travel to Westfield State; games begin at 2:00PM.

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