NASHUA – It’s a combination that works for the Daniel Webster College baseball team.

Greg Dubela starts on the mound, and Rich Lizotte finishes. And in between, Lizotte, along with the other Eagles infielders, gobbles up ground balls.

The numbers don’t lie for the 28-10 Eagles, who are heading into their second straight NCAA Division III tournament appearance. They’ll find out late Sunday where and when they’ll be playing.

Dubela is 8-0 with a 1.39 earned run average. Lizotte has nine saves and hasn’t allowed an earned run all year, and the West Warwick, R.I., senior has also made life easier for Dubela and other pitchers with his work at shortstop.

“It’s awesome,” Dubela said. “I’ve definitely learned how to pitch to contact and getting hitters to hit the ball where I want them to hit the ball. You get Richie out there, there’s no need to throw three pitches when I can throw one, and Rich is a vacuum out there.”

Dubela, a business major, says that helps him keep his pitch count low. Of course, there’s also Lizotte to come in and pitch the ninth for him to get him the win, something he’s done all season.

“I love Greg Dubela,” Lizotte said. “Greg Dubela is an outstanding pitcher, has great command of the strike zone. … He’s a ground ball pitcher. He trusts his defense. It’s nice to know he has the trust in us as well as we have the trust in him.”

“I knew he had the potential,” head coach J.P. Pyne said. “But you can’t really put that expectation on a guy. He’s a typical guy with a live arm. I talked with him early on and I said when you get in trouble, do you get hit or do you walk people? And he said he walks people. And I believed that because he was a high-strikeout, high-walk guy. So we talked about pitching to contact and refining his delivery.”

Dubela, who is from Stratham and played his high school ball at Exeter, went to Northern Essex Community College for two years and then spent one year at the University of Massachusetts Boston, which he didn’t feel was a good fit. So he was looking to transfer, and DWC stood out.

“It’s the best decision I ever made,” Dubela said. “I was looking for a school for a better education and I was looking for a coach like coach Pyne. … I wanted to become a better pitcher, and knowing everything behind his whole pitching career. I said, ‘Hey, Daniel Webster is the place I want to be.’ He’s had a huge impact on me.”

Dubela, a free spirit who blended right in with the Eagles, says the team and Pyne have turned him from a high-strikeout thrower to a low-run pitcher, and he has a five-pitch arsenal that helps him do just that.

“He’s really a student of pitching,” Pyne said. “He was always willing to try and willing to work. At the end of the fall, it just clicked, and he’s carried that momentum from the fall right into the NCAA tournament.”

“I’m just looking to put zeros on the board,” Dubella said. “Establish command, learn how to throw the pitch, when to throw the pitch. (Pyne) taught me that; it was huge. Worked with my mechanics so I filled up the strike zone more. Pretty crazy.

“I had the things I wanted to work on, the goals I set for myself. And you just work on those goals. For example, say today I’m going to establish my change-up and throw nothing but my change-ups. That way, when I need it in a game, it’s there.”

Lizotte, meanwhile, wasn’t planning to play sports in college. He was recruited for basketball by a Rhode Island school, but wasn’t interested. Pyne noticed him while recruiting current Eagles backup catcher Aaron Richards.

“He kind of talked me out of” not playing in college, Lizotte said, “and wanted me to play, so I came here, and I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.”

“It didn’t take long for me to figure out that Richie was the best player on the field,” Pyne said, referring to Lizotte’s freshman year. “Think of it: For four years he’s been our shortstop, our closer, and he’s hit in the middle of our lineup.

“Three really high-pressure, high-visibility, crucial jobs he’s done since Day One. That’s so rare. From a physical tools standpoint, he’s the most talented player we’ve ever had. This year was the year where everything came together.”

Lizotte, who’s 6-foot-3, said working with Eagles assistant coach Nate Goulet, the former Nashua High School infield standout, improved his defense to the point where “it’s been the most comfortable I’ve been in the field in the four years I’ve been here.”

It also has been his best hitting season – he went 6-for-9 in the New England Collegiate Conference finals – and he feels the contagious bats on the Eagles are to be credited.

“It’s also been more patience,” Lizotte said. “I’ve got some discipline now. I can sit on an 0-0 curveball and take it, and wait until they throw me the fastball.”

How does Lizotte do it all – hitter, fielder, closer?

“At times,” he said, “it can be stressful.”

But he has it down to a science, whether warming up to close or knowing when he can ease up and go back in the field.

Lizotte was always a starter in high school, but Pyne wanted him more in the field, so a compromise – making him a closer – was reached pretty easily.

“It’s been successful ever since,” Lizotte said. “I’m not one to go for strikeouts. I’d rather pitch for location … and let my defense help me out.”

That comes from the fact that he’s an infielder himself.

Lizotte changed his major while at DWC, from sports management to homeland security, with a desire to become a police officer. He will likely be at the school another year, but his eligibility ends with this tournament.

“I’m probably happier for Richie and his success this year than anything else, because he’s worked so hard,” Pyne said. “He’s really the face of what we’re trying to do.”

Which is keep the program at a high level.

“I always keep my goals high,” Dubela said. “The greater the competition, the more fun I have. When batters get better, it becomes more fun to pitch to them. You can play the game at a higher level, and that’s what I really strive for.”

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