Castleton, VT - Fifth-seeded Becker College smacked three homeruns and scored the final seven runs of the game to earn an 8-2 win over the fourth seed, Castleton, in the opening round of the ECAC New England Championship.

Becker broke through for a run in the second inning as Frank Vaccaro singled and later scored on a single by Geoff Sinnott Jr.

Castleton's Ted Mills tied the game at 1-1 with a solo homerun in the third, and the Spartans took a 2-1 lead on an rbi-ground out from Garrett Bissonnette in the fourth.

A solo homerun by Vaccaro tied it at 2-2 in the sixth, and seventh inning homeruns from Josue and Jario Valdez gave the Hawks the lead for good. Becker tacked on four runs in the ninth, including three unearned to put the game out of reach.

Valdez led the 18-14-1 Hawks with a 3-for-5 day at the plate, scoring twice and driving in one. Sinnott drove in two runs with a pair of hits and the Hawks received a complete-game effort from Errick Maddern in the win. Maddern scattered seven hits and walked one while striking out four.

Matt Eisenhuth led the Spartan offense with two hits and one run scored as Castleton's season ends at 26-15. The 26 wins ties the program-record for wins in a season set in 2007.

ECAC WEBSITE

2009 ECAC Division III New England Baseball Championship

First Round - Wednesday, May 6

No. 5 Becker College, 8 at No. 4 Castleton State College, 2 Box Score  Game Story
No. 6 Fitchburg State, 13 vs. No. 3 Wentworth, 7 Box Score  Game Story

Semifinals - Saturday, May 9 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

No. 5 Becker College vs. No. 1 WPI (26-11), TBD
No. 6 Fitchburg State College vs. No. 2 Worcester State College (28-14), TBD

Championship - Saturday, May 9 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Two Semifinal Winners, TBD

Complete Bracket

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Story Courtesy of Becker Sports Information