WESTFIELD – Holy Cross product Owen Callaghan pitched five innings with no earned runs, logging six strikeouts, but the New Britain Bees got the best of the Westfield Starfires 7-2 on Wednesday night at Bullens Field.
The Bees have had Westfield’s number this year, winning four of the five contests against the Starfires to get up to 11-14 on the season. The Starfires fall to 7-17.
The Starfires broke into the scoring column in the opening inning of this one. Boston College’s John Mass led off with a single, and then Connecticut Husky Evan Menzel joined him on the bases with a single of his own.
Alex Ulloa then reached on a fielder’s choice, retiring Menzel but moving Mass over to third. The Starfires went on to nicely execute a double steal and with the throw down to second getting into center field, the Bees had no chance at preventing Mass from going home as the Starfires took a 1-0 lead.
After Holy Cross product Owen Callaghan and the Starfires retired the first seven Bees to begin the game, the next three reached with an error followed by two singles and New Britain entered the scoring column in the third to tie the game.
The Starfires immediately responded in the bottom of the third with a double from FIU Panther Alex Ulloa and then Northeastern product Anthony Ruggiero drove him in with a base hit creating a 2-1 advantage for the home team.
Callaghan pitched two more scoreless innings, but in the sixth, the Bees got back-to-back singles to begin the inning and the Starfires starter was promptly removed.
Westfield went with UMass-Lowell Riverhawk Nolan Geisler and the rising sophomore from Bayonne, New Jersey got a strikeout and a fielder’s choice groundout for two outs, but the Starfires committed an error to load up the bases and New Britain made them pay in a big way, with the next hitter, Jared Clark smashing a double to the fence, clearing the bases and putting the Bees up ahead 4-2.
New Britain got a 5-2 lead in the seventh, and the pitching staff went on to completely shut down the Starfires.
After the third, only two Westfield players reached base in the next five innings, Mass in the fifth with a walk, and then Menzel in the eighth after drawing four balls.
The Bees added two more runs in the ninth to bring their total up to seven in an inning which New Britain registered three walks and a double.
Down 7-2 in the ninth, Iona’s Cole Silvia got himself his sixth hit in his last three games with a two-out single, but a strikeout concluded the game with the Bees picking up the win at Bullens.
Mass and Menzel each recorded a hit and a walk on the night. For Menzel, he has now reached safely in all 21 games this year. Ruggiero had the only RBI on the night, and Ulloa had his second double of the season in the loss.
The Starfires will be back on tap at Bullens today against the Worcester Bravehearts at 6:30 p.m. for one-dollar hot dog night presented by Kayem. Tickets for the game, and all Starfires home games, are available at [www.westfieldstarfires.com](http://www.westfieldstarfires.com/).