Tripp sparks Husson after its first-game loss Eagles split Sunday twinbill after Saturday sweep

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BANGOR – Having won more than 1,000 games and lost a few hundred as a college baseball coach, John Winkin has seen virtually every baseball scenario imaginable.

So after his Husson College Eagles swept Becker College out of a share of the North Atlantic Conference lead on Saturday, there was concern as last-place Elms College of Chicopee, Mass., arrived for a doubleheader at the Winkin Complex on Sunday.

It was justified concern, Elms rallied for a 3-1 victory in the opener before Husson bounced back behind right-hander Travis Tripp for a 6-1 victory in the second game.

“We didn’t come to play today,” said Winkin, whose club improved to 20-10, 6-4 in conference play. “The hardest thing to do as a coach is when you’re supposed to win to have them ready to play. I had a nightmare all [Saturday] night about it; I just knew it was going to happen.”

Tripp, who entered his start with an 8.48 earned run averaged, pitched a six-hitter with five strikeouts and three walks.

He escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second by getting Nick Mackowiak to ground into a 1-6-3 double play, then allowed his only run in the fourth on an RBI single by Joe Esile before again forcing Elms to leave the bases loaded.

“It was nice to see Travis come back,” said Winkin. “He’s struggled, so that was something we badly needed.”

Husson gave Tripp all the support he needed with a three-run first inning. Leadoff hitter Danny White grounded a single up the middle and Jason Harvey hit a one-out single to left before both runners scored when Justin Spencer tripled down the left field line. Spencer scored to make it 3-0 on a sacrifice fly by Sean Brawn.

Spencer led off the Husson third with a single and later scored when Andrew Patterson lined a one-out single to left.

The Eagles reached Elms freshman righty Joe Guditis for a pair of unearned runs in the sixth, with Adam Sheehan driving home one of those runs with a groundout.

That victory came in the aftermath of a frustrating loss in the opener.

Husson righthander James Gray had one-hit the Blazers (6-25 overall, 2-8 in NAC play) through six innings, but the Eagles had managed just a 1-0 lead off Elms righthander Ted Roback. That run came in the third as White walked, reached second on a single by Chad Lavway, and scored when Elms outfielder Elias Madrid dropped Harvey’s fly ball along the right field line.

But that narrow margin for error wasn’t enough. Gray, who hadn’t walked anyone since the game’s first batter, walked Joe Sawa and Kevin Furey on nine pitches to open Elms’ seventh. Nate Hawes doubled down the left field line to drive home Sawa, and Esile’s sacrifice fly plated Furey with the go-ahead run. Machowiak nubbed a two-out infield hit toward second base to drive home Hawes with an insurance run.

Elms lefty Joe Ferry pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh to earn the save in support of Roback, who yielded five hits and no earned runs.

“Our kids are young and when we come and protect the balls and make plays, we have a chance to win,” said Elms coach Don LaValley. “It’s been like that all year, but we’re just very, very young.”

Husson stranded eight baserunners in the opener, six in scoring position.

“We did not hit like we should, and that ultimately hurt us,” Winkin said. “We left too many runners on base.”

Gray finished with a three-hitter with three walks and four strikeouts.

On Saturday, Husson used strong starting pitching performances by Anthony DeRosa and Lavway to earn a 12-4, 3-0 sweep of Becker College of Worcester, Mass.

DeRosa allowed only two earned runs on five hits while pitching the first six innings of the opener. The freshman right-hander from Bangor struck out nine and walked three before giving way to Jon Tefft, who pitched a scoreless seventh.

Becker took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but Husson scored four runs in the bottom of the first and four more runs in the second to take control. Patterson’s two-run double sparked the Eagles’ first-inning uprising, while Harvey’s three-run double was the key blow of the Husson second.

White keyed Husson’s 17-hit attack with four singles, three runs scored, and two RBIs, while Patterson doubled and singled twice, Harvey doubled twice, and Jeff Miller and Brian McGinley each had two singles.

Lavway, a freshman left-hander from Presque Isle, pitched a four-hitter in the second game, striking out three while walking two.

Husson managed just six hits, but Miller singled home a run in the second and Spencer doubled home a run and scored on Brawn’s RBI single in the third for all the offense the Eagles needed.

BLAZERS 3, EAGLES 1

(Sunday’s First Game)

Elms Husson

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Ferry, cf-p 2 0 0 0 White, 2b 2 1 0

Netkovick, 1b-lf 2 0 0 0 Lavway, dh 2 0

Sawa, c 2 1 0 0 Thomas, ph 1 0 0

Furey, dh-1b 2 1 0 0 Harvey, ss 4 0 0

Hawes, ss 3 1 1 1 Spencer, cf 3 0 0

Esile, 3b 2 0 0 1 Brawn, 1b 3 0 0

Madrid, rf 3 -0 1 0 Sheehan, 3b 3 0 0

Mackowiak, lf-cf 3 0 1 1 McInnis, rf 3 0

Mooney, 2b 3 0 0 0 Miller, rf 0 0 0

Potvin, c 3 0 1 0

Ellis, lf 3 0 0 0

Totals 22 3 3 3 Totals 27 1 5 0

Elms 000 000 3 – 3

Husson 001 000 0 – 1

E-Madrid, Hawes; LOB-Elms 3, Husson 8; 2B-Hawes; 3B-Madrid; DP-Mooney-Hawes-Furey; S-Netkovick; SF-Esile; SB-Ferry, Sawa, Mackowiak

Elms IP H R ER BB SO

Roback (W, 2-3) 6 5 1 0 2 0

Ferry (S) 1 0 0 0 0 1

Husson IP H R ER BB SO

Gray (L, 3-1) 7 3 3 3 3 4

HBP-White (by Ferry); T-1:35

EAGLES 6, BLAZERS 1

(Sunday’s Second Game)

Elms (6-25) Husson (20-10)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Ferry, cf 3 0 0 0 White, 2b 4 2 0

Arment, ph 1 0 1 0 Sheehan, 3b 4 0 1

Netkovick, 1b 4 0 0 0 Harvey, ss 4 0

Sawa, c 3 1 1 0 Spencer, cf 3 2 2

Furey, dh 2 0 1 0 Brawn, dh 2 0 1

Hawes, ss 3 0 1 0 Miller, rf 3 0 0

Esile, 3b 1 0 1 1 Patterson, 1b 3 0 1

LaValley, ph 1 0 0 0 McGinley, c 2 1 0

Madrid, rf 2 0 0 0 Ellis, lf 2 0 0

Mackowiak, lf-cf 3 0 1 0

Mooney, 2b 2 0 0 0

Prattico, ph 1 0 0 0

Totals 26 1 6 1 Totals 27 6 8 5

Elms 000 100 0-1

Husson 301 002 x-6

E-Esile, Guditus, Netkovick, Hawes; Tripp; LOB-Elms 7, Husson 6; 3B-Spencer; DP-Tripp-Harvey-Patterson; S-Ellis; SF-Brawn; SB-White, McGinley

Elms IP H R ER BB SO

Guditus (L, 0-5) 6 8 6 4 1 1

Husson IP H R ER BB SO

Tripp (W, 3-3) 7 6 1 1 3 5

T-1:30; ATT-125

(Saturday’s First Game)

Becker 300 000 1 – 4 7 0

Husson 441 030 x – 12 17 1

Stearns, Halligan (2), Markle (6) and Perry; DeRosa, Tefft (7) and McGinley, Potvin (7)

(Saturday’s Second Game)

Becker (15-12) 000 000 0 – 0 4 1

Husson (19-9) 012 000 x – 3 6 0

Pacyna and Kev. Renaud; Lavway and McGinley