Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 FRANKLIN, Mass. The New England College baseball team swept the Dean College Bulldogs behind a hot offense and strong pitching in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) play on Saturday afternoon.

THE BASICS
Score: New England College 9, Dean 3 (Game One)
New England College 11, Dean 0(Game Two)

Records:Pilgrims (18-8, 6-2 NECC) | Bulldogs 8-18, 5-5 NECC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One New England College 9, Dean 3
Christian Aybar got the Pilgrims on the board quickly as he hit a leadoff homerun in the very first at-bat of the day. Connor Morin singled to center field before a two-out double to center field by Luis Atiles scored Morin. An RBI single by Anderson Jimenez gave the Pilgrims a 3-0 lead before the top half of the first inning was over. All nine batters came to the plate in the first inning for NEC. However, the Bulldogs would respond with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning.

Atiles would double home Morin again in the top of the second inning which gave the Pilgrims a three-run cushion. Xavier Nunez singled home Joe Maestu in the top of the third inning to continue to extend the lead. Dean crossed the plate again on an RBI single in the bottom half of the third frame. The Pilgrims continued their trend of scoring in every inning as they struck for three more runs in the top of the fourth inning. Maestu singled home Atiles before Aybar singled home Jimenez and Jeam Castillo. Castillo singled home Atiles in the top of the fifth inning, which gave the Pilgrims a 9-2 lead. A run in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Bulldogs their third run but they could not plate any more runs.

Nick Powers earned his fourth win of the season. He threw 5.0 innings, striking out eight batters. He allowed two runs on seven hits in the outing. Colby Howe came on in relief, closing out the remaining 2.0 innings. He struck out three batters while allowing one run and two hits.

Game Two New England College 11, Dean 0
Once again, the Pilgrims struck quickly as Morin singled home Aybar in the top of the first inning. Powers continued to swing a hot bat as he hit his third homerun in as many games. The two-run homerun gave NEC a 3-0 advantage. Jimenez would take advantage of a rundown that Aybar found himself in which extended the lead to four.

Morin added his third homerun in as many games which plated the fourth and fifth runs of the inning and gave the Pilgrims a 6-0 lead at the end of the second inning. Powers doubled which score Atiles in the third inning and added an RBI single in the fifth. Jimenez hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to add to the lead before he hit the third homerun of the game in the seventh inning.

Shayne Audet earned his fourth win in the complete game shutout. He struck out 18 batters, which is the most in a single game dating back to 2010. He allowed one hit in his outing. Audet struck out the side in four of his seven innings.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
-This was the first and second meetings all-time between the Pilgrims and Bulldogs. The Pilgrims are now 2-0 all-time.
-Audet's 18 strikeouts is, as of writing, the individual game high for strikeouts in a single game in all of the NCAA's Division III. He is also second in DIII in strikeouts per nine innings at 16.69.
-The Pilgrims are 15-1 in games in which they score more than nine runs.

UP NEXT
Sunday, April 14^th vs. Southern Vermont College, 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.