WESTFIELD, Mass. – Shane Bogli pitched the last game the Westfield State Owls baseball team played. Little did he know it would be 375 days until his next start.
Bogli (1-0) spun six shutout innings, striking out nine while walking none, and yielded just two hits as the Owls blanked MCLA 2-0 in the first game post-pandemic for Owls baseball.
Westfield pushed across single runs in the first and second inning. Graduate student Casey Boudreau, doubled and later scored on Sean Moorhouse's RBI ground out. Boudreau, who finished 3-4 in the opener, has taken advantage of the pandemic pause to begin a graduate degree in education while playing out his final season of eligbility, which was granted after the 2020 campaign was cut short.
In the second inning, junior shortstop Damian Manascalco walked and then came all the way around to score on Zack Graveline's RBI double.
Bogli did the rest of the work, handing the final three innings over to Patrick Jordan, who worked three scoreless innings, striking out three to earn his first save.
Starter Ryan Ruef (0-1) took the loss for MCLA. Austin Rachiele had two of the Trailblazers three hits.
In game 2, the bats came alive for both teams as Westfield prevailed 11-5. The Owls took a 3-1 lead after one inning on an RBI single from Moorhouse and an RBI double from Nolan Florence.
MCLA rallied to tie the game 4-4 in the fourth on Randy Adams single that plated Rachiele.
Westfield grabbed the lead back for good in the fifth as Bryant Dana drew a bases loaded walk to take a 5-4 lead, and then Manascalco plated Brett Dooley with a sacrifice fly to lead 6-4.
Dooley finished with two hits, three runs scored and two RBI, while Manascalco drove in three runs.
Nate Langmeier (1-0) picked up the win, the first of his career, in relief for Westfield. Trevor Edwards worked the final three scorless innings for a save.
Isaiah Tucker (0-1) took the loss in relief for MCLA (0-2). Adams, Rob Correia, and Jake Ferrara each had a pair of hits for the Trailblazers.
Westfield State (2-0) will be back in action on Friday, hosting Framingham State in a pair of conference games.
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