Courtesy Trinity College Sports Information/ECAC

HARWICH, Mass. - Senior RHP Tim Kiely (Swampscott, Mass.) struck out a career high twelve batters without allowing a walk in a complete game performance while senior SS Tom DiBenedetto (Fort Myers, Fla.) and sophomore Kent Graham (Longmeadow, Mass.) anchored the offense as Trinity defeated Western New England College 7-2 at the NCAA Baseball New England Regional Thursday at Whitehouse Field. With the victory, the Bantams (39-0) move within one win of tying the all-time record of consecutive wins, currently held by Marietta College.

Trinity got the scoring started on a two-out RBI single in the third by DeBenedetto, scoring junior tri-captain C Sean Killeen (Greenfield, Mass.). In the bottom of the fourth, the Bantams got in some trouble when junior OF Mike Beck (Whitesboro, N.Y.) reached on a single and made his way to third with just one out. The Golden Bears attempted a suicide squeeze, but sophomore catcher Jon Dominik (West Springfield, Mass.) missed the bunt and Kiely was able to apply the tag for the out and get out of the inning unscathed.

Kiely and Golden Bears left-handed starter, senior Chris Anderson (Moodus, Conn.), kept the bats quiet until the fifth, when the Bantams loaded the bases and scored two runs on a DiBenedetto RBI groundout and a sharp single by senior DH Matt Stafford (Plymouth, Mass.). Western New England put up two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning on a 2-run bad bounce single off the lip of the infield by senior 1B Travis Schwamb (West Springfield, Mass.), his third opposite field hit of the game. With the score at 3-2 in Trinity’s favor, the Bantams added some insurance in the sixth with a two-out RBI single off the bat of Killeen.

With Kiely getting better as the game went, the Bantams continued to add to their lead, which was capped off with a three-run ninth. Killeen led off the inning with a double and Graham connected for an extremely well hit two-run blast, his eighth of the season. As soon as the bat made contact, Graham put his head down and started jogging the bases after the high and deep line drive home run.

Junior 2B Ryan Piacentini (Portland, Maine), Kiely, and DeBenedetto made strong defensive plays for the Bantams, but a diving catch by a fully extended senior OF Chandler Barnard (Lubbock, Tx.) down the left field line in the fifth came at a crucial time after the Golden Bears put two on the board and were threatening for more.

Kiely, who struck out five of the last seven batters he faced, improves to 11-0 on the season. Anderson, who struck out seven batters in eight innings of work, falls to 4-4. Killeen finished the game with two hits, three runs, and an RBI. Beck recorded two hits for the Golden Bears.

The Bantams return to action tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 at Whitehouse Field, facing the winner of tonight’s game between the Keene State College Owls and the Wheaton College Lyons.