WESTFIELD, Mass.  –  Chase Racine (Pittsfield, Mass.) drove in three runs and Tommy LaSpada (West Hartford, Conn./Hall) rapped out three hits and drove in a pair as Westfield State outdistanced Salem State in a MASCAC baseball game at  Central Campus Field in Salem, Mass. on Friday afternoon.

Westfield improves to 16-8 overall and 5-2 in the conference, while Salem is now 11-8 and 4-3 in the MASCAC.  The two ballclubs will complete the three-game series on Sunday afternoon at Bud and Jim Hagan Field in Westfield, with a doubleheader that begins at noon.

Westfield swung the bats early, jumping out to a 10-0 lead after five innings.  LaSpada delivered a RBI double to right center field in the first inning, then Racine popped a 2-run double down the left field line in the second to give Westfield a 6-0 lead.  

LaSpada added an RBI single in the fourth inning to score Nolan Florence (Chicopee, Mass.), then Florence whacked a 2-run, ground-rule double in the fifth before Racine added an RBI groundout to make it 10-0.

Owls starter Ryan Lapierre (Pittsfield, Mass.) made just one big mistake in yielding a solo homerun in the bottom of the fifth to Edward Field.   LaPierre ran his record to a perfect 6-0 in as many starts, working seven innings and allowing five hits, just the one earned run, striking out four and walking one.

Sean Casey (Amston, Conn./RHAM) and Charlie Walsh (Medfield, Mass.) mopped up for the Owls.

Westfield's Sam Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) extended his school-record hitting streak to 21 games with an RBI single in the second.  The Owls hit a total of six doubles in the game.

Salem starter Nolan Currier (L, 1-2) didn't make it out of the second inning, allowing six runs (four earned) and six hits in 1.2 innings.  James Dolan had three hits for the Vikings.