Rachiele hits for cycle, Baseball clips Westfield State 5-4
NORTH ADAMS, Mass.—Austin Rachiele went 4-for-4 hitting for the cycle in MCLA's 5-4 MASCAC victory over Westfield State this afternoon. With the win the Trailblazers improve to 8-17 (2-8 MASCAC) while the Owls fall to 10-15 (5-5 MASCAC).
Rachiele (4-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) led off the bottom of the 1st with his 8th home run of the season to put MCLA up 1-0 but Westfield State would tie things up on a Nolan Florence sacrifice fly in the top of the 2nd.
A Jayco Pena sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 3rd would drive in Rachiele who had doubled and advance to third on a wild pitch. Later in the inning Noel Media would score from second thanks to a Ty Mazzeo double to right to make it 3-1.
The Owls would load the bases with no outs in the top of the 6th and manage to tie the game 3-3 after a sacrifice fly and hit batsman.
A Rachiele triple in the bottom of the 7th would drive in Justin Hernandez to give the Trailblazers a 4-3 lead and complete the cycle for the senior center fielder. Rachiele later scored on a Noel Medina base hit and the home team would take a 5-3 lead into the 8th.
Doubles by Westfield's Nick Marshall and Dan Burnett in the top of the 9th would trim the lead to 5-4 but MCLA would hold on to earn the hard-fought conference win.
Westfield starting pitcher Michael Hall (L, 0-2) pitched 6 innings allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out seven batters in the loss.
MCLA starter Aiden Brett pitched 5 strong innings allowing 3 runs on four hits while reliever James Sneyd (W, 1-1) finished the game off to earn the win going 4 innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out three batters.
Both teams are back in action on Wednesday in nonconference games as Westfield State will visit Elms for and MCLA travels to Skidmore College with the first pitch scheduled for 4pm.