The Westfield Starfires and Vermont Lake Monsters combined for six unearned runs in the first two innings, but Westfield steadied itself more to earn an 8-6 win at Dunkin’ Park, home of the Hartford Yard Goats.

Westfield is now 15-24 on the season.

Vermont’s Brian Richman led off the game with a single, but was erased on a fielder’s choice, and South Windsor, Connecticut native Chris Strout, a sophomore at Fairleigh Dickinson University, struck out the next two hitters to strand the runner.

In the home half, Westfield took full advantage of a defensive meltdown by the Lake Monsters. Fairfield, Connecticut native Ryan Ventrelle, an incoming freshman at the University of Notre Dame, hit a broken-bat single to center, and was moved to second as Bucknell University junior John Calabrese took four straight balls for a walk.

Central Connecticut State University’s Nick Fox then came to the plate, and the sophomore hit a ball right at Richman; the usually-sure-handed second baseman botched the handle, however, allowing the Starfires to load the bases. It only went worse from there for Vermont; miscues at shortstop during the at-bats of University of Massachusetts-Amherst junior Vance Bonior and Louisiana Tech sophomore Cooper Smith scored Ventrelle and Calabrese, respectively.

Stony Brook University junior Mike Cervoni kept the line moving with a flare to center that fell between three fielders who all lost it in the clouds and haze, which plated Fox. The damage might have been worse still if a line drive had not been snared at third for a 5-4 double play to end the inning.

Just as quickly, though, things came unglued for Westfield. Thomas Moss hit a one-out single, and Brad Johnston fired a line-drive home run to left to shrink the gap to 3-2.

A walk by Travis Stroh and a base hit by Brendan Walsh brought Richman back to the dish with a chance to redeem himself for his first-inning mistake. The second-year Lake Monster wasted no time, dropping a bunt down toward the third-base side that not only moved the runners but induced a bad throw; the tying run scored and Vermont suddenly had second and third with one out.

A strikeout put Westfield on the edge of escaping, but it was not meant to be; a wild pitch not only scored Walsh, but Richman scampered home all the way from second. Vermont’s three unearned negated Westfield’s, and the two-run home run meant the Lake Monsters led 5-3.

As they had in the first, Ventrelle singled and Calabrese walked to give Westfield life in the second, and Bonior came up big again, smacking a double into left field; he was thrown out between second and third, but both Ventrelle and Calabrese had already come in, and the Starfires had tied the game.

Vermont came back to the plate and put two men on quickly, leading manager Paul Bonfiglio to call on University of Saint Joseph senior Ethan Slowik. He induced a flyout and a groundout to shut down the threat.

In the home half of the third, Vermont acquired the first two outs quickly, but Cervoni slashed a single through the right side and Iona University junior Cole Silvia followed with the same on the left. The two first-pitch hits put a man in scoring position, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts native Morrie Fried, an incoming freshman at Brown University, then slugged a line drive off the wall in left that was hit so hard that he was only able to reach first, but Silvia scored the go-ahead run.

Vermont again tied the game in the fourth, as Hunter Strohm belted a solo shot to left for a 6-6 draw, but Westfield answered yet again. Calabrese walked on five pitches to lead off the home half, and Fox put bat to ball on a 2-0 pitch that fell down the left-field line for an RBI double.

Slowik put together a 1-2-3 frame in the fifth, giving Westfield a chance to add more. The Starfires took it, as Cervoni was hit by a pitch and Silvia walked. Fried hit into a double play, but Cervoni was able to reach third, and Calabrese reached for the fourth time in five innings as he singled up the middle to score Cervoni.

From there, the pitching took over. Slowik worked around a two-out walk for a scoreless sixth and then University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth senior Dillon Harding took over. He did allow two hits in the seventh, but erased one by ending the inning on a brilliant pickoff move to first to catch Jake Dunlap.

He followed that with a 1-2-3 eighth, and though Richman singled to put the tying run at the plate in the ninth, Harding was able to shut the door, winning an eight-pitch battle with Zach Geertsman on a slider that caught the corner for strike and out number three.

Slowik’s final line in his first win of the season was 3.2 innings with the one hit and run and one walk against four strikeouts. Harding’s second save came in three shutout innings with three hits, no walks, and three punchouts. Albert Savino absorbed the loss for Vermont, allowing two runs on five hits in two frames.

Bonior collected three hits and three RBI, while Calabrese reached four times and scored three; Cervoni and Ventrelle each had two hits and two runs.

Westfield will now return to Worcester, Massachusetts for a 6:30 p.m. contest with the Bravehearts; that game will be featured on NESN.