Courtesy ECAC

HARWICH, Mass. - Trinity College, the 2008 NESCAC Baseball Champions, battled past Castleton for a 9-5 victory on Wednesday afternoon in the NCAA Baseball New England Regional. The Bantams, who improved to 38-0 in the win, will face Western New England, an 8-6 winner in 12 innings over Southern Maine, on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Castleton scored first on the undefeated Bantams, beginning with a single and stolen base by Brad Polcare. Two batters later, Polcare scored on a double by Dan Conley, and the Spartans led, 1-0. Trinity responded with a run in the third and a run in the fourth, and after four, led 2-1.

The Spartans scored two in the top of the fifth to take the lead back at 3-2. A walk followed by two singles got runners on base, and an error scored both Castleton runs.

With two out in the bottom of the fifth, the Bantams took advantage of two hits and two errors to regain a lead they would not relinquish, 5-3.

Trinity added some insurance runs in the eighth with a lead-off triple followed by a double, a single, and some errors. The Bantams would total three in the inning, and finish with a 9-5 victory.

For the game, Trinity designated hitter Chandler Barnard went 3-for-5 at the plate and had three RBI. Starting pitcher Michael Regan went seven innings of work, allowing just one earned run, eight hits, and one, walk, while striking out four.

Castleton was led at the plate by Kevin McPeek who had two hits in three at bats, and scored a pair of runs.