WestConn Splits Doubleheader With LEC Rival Plymouth State

Game 1 - Box Score
Game 2 - Box Score

DANBURY, CT (Apr. 13th) – Plymouth State’s Chip Hale (Londonderry, NH) and Western Connecticut State University freshman Billy Armstrong (Moodus, CT) both had strong pitching performances as the Panthers and Colonials split a doubleheader at Westside Field Sunday afternoon.

In game one, Hale recorded eight strikeouts, no walks, and allowed only two earned runs in a complete-game effort. Hale set the Colonials down in order four different times, including one stretch where 12 Colonials were retired in order.

Both teams scored in their half of the second inning, but the big blow came off the bat of Plymouth’s Nick Englert (North Woodstock, NH) who hit a shot over the left-field fence with two outs and the bases loaded.
Jim VanGyzen (Glocester, RI) connected for a solo home run in the fourth for the Panthers, followed by a single run in the fifth and two more in the eighth. After a rocky third inning in which he hit a batter and gave up a double and a triple, Hale wasn’t challenged by the Colonial hitters until the ninth and closed out the game with a strikeout to earn his second victory of the season.

In game two, Armstrong struck out eight Plymouth State batters, gave up two walks, and allowed only two earned runs in eight innings of work. Four times he got the Panther batters out in order, included nine of the first ten batters he faced.

After a quite first inning offensively for both teams in game two, WestConn scored in the second, third, and fourth innings to take a commanding 7-2 lead. The big hit for the Colonials came in the fourth inning when senior Matt Gardiner (Terryville, CT) hit a ball deep over the fence in right field with the bases loaded and two outs. In his next at bat, Gardner cleared the fence in left-center for a two-run homer extending the WestConn lead to 9-2. Sophomore Dan Baccaro (Berlin, CT) added some insurance for the Colonials with a solo shot in the seventh (his second home run of the game), and when both teams scored twice in the ninth WestConn came away with a 12-4 win and a split on the day’s games.

With this afternoon’s doubleheader split WestConn’s record stands at 9-17 (3-6 in the Little East Conference), while Plymouth State’s record is now 6-16 (2-5 LEC).

WestConn hosts Albertus Magnus College for a double-header on Wednesday, April 16th. First pitch for game one is schedule for 4:00pm.

Plymouth State 8, Western Connecticut 4 (Apr 13, 2008 at Danbury, Conn.) (Game 1) ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Western Connecticut. 021 000 001 - 4 9 1 (8-17, 2-6 LEC)
Plymouth State...... 040 110 02X - 8 7 2 (6-15, 2-4 LEC)
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Pitchers: Western Connecticut - Miles Scribner; David Alarcon(6); Josh Murray(7). Plymouth State - Chip Hale. Win-Chip Hale(2-1) Loss-Miles Scribner(1-3)
T-2:25 A-50
HR PSU - Jim VanGyzen; Nick Englert. M. Scribner faced 2 batters in the 6th. Western

Connecticut 12, Plymouth State 4 (Apr 13, 2008 at Danbury, Conn.) (Game 2)
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Western Connecticut. 021 402 102 - 12 11 1 (9-17, 3-6 LEC)
Plymouth State...... 000 200 002 - 4  7  3 (6-16, 2-5 LEC)
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Pitchers: Western Connecticut - Bill Armstrong; Joe Postemsky(9).
Plymouth State - Taylor Ketchum; Chris Welch(5); Ryan Lavelle(7); Justin Flanagan(9). Win-Bill Armstrong(2-2) Loss-Taylor Ketchum(1-4)
T-2:25 A-50 HR WCSU - Matt Gardiner 2; Dan Baccaro 2.