March 28, 2002

AMHERST, MA – The Amherst College baseball team pounded out a season-high 18 hits, while sophomore starter Duncan Webb (Lynn, MA) scattered just six hits with no earned runs and six strikeouts over seven complete innings, as the Jeffs blasted visiting non-league foe Westfield State College, 13-2, in their home opener on Thursday. 

First-year shortstop Josh Santry (Allendale, NJ) and sophomore third baseman Matt Potter (Durham, NC) paced the Jeffs offensively with three hits each. Santry also scored three runs, while Potter – who leads the club with a hefty .558 batting average – scored twice and laced his third double of the season. 

In all, seven different Amherst players posted multiple-hit games, including first-year left fielder David Powers (Andover, MA), who finished 2-for-3 with a two-run double, three RBI's and two runs scored. Junior right fielder John Schneider (Grand Rapids, MI), senior first baseman Jim Hochrein (Greenfield, MA), senior catcher J.R. Drabick (Lebanon, NH) and sophomore center fielder Paul Whiting (Mission Viejo, CA) accompanied Powers with two hits each. 

The Jeffs scored in each of the first five innings but did most of their damage with seven runs in the fifth. After Whiting reached with a leadoff walk and Santry singled, Schneider and Powers blasted back-to-back doubles to put the Jeffs up 9-2. Later in the inning, senior second baseman John Brody (Baltimore, MD) plated Powers with a sacrifice fly before Hochrein singled in Potter, who reached with a walk. Whiting then cemented the rally with a two-run double in the right-center field gap scoring Hochrein and Drabick, setting the final score at 13-2. 

Aside from allowing two unearned runs in the second, Webb (2-1) cruised, setting the Owls down in order in the first, third and sixth innings. Amherst sophomore right-hander Andy Kerns (Barrington, IL) came on and struck out the side in the eighth, before first-year reliever Ed Imperatore (Tenafly, NJ) ended the game with two strikeouts and a one-two-three inning in the ninth. 

Junior right fielder Aaron Belanger (Pittsfield, MA) and junior second baseman Tim Cadman (Waltham, MA) paced Westfield State with two hits each as the Owls fell to 3-9. Westfield State junior starter Matt McMillan (Whitman, MA) surrendered nine hits and six earned runs in 3.1 innings, running his pitching record to 0-2. 

Amherst (7-5) opens its NESCAC West Division slate Friday at 3 p.m. against visiting Little Three rival Wesleyan University. 

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