LASELL SWEEPS GNAC DOUBLEHEADER FROM NORWICH

NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University baseball team dropped both ends of its Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader versus Lasell on Saturday afternoon. The Lasers took the first game, 14-10, before rallying for an 11-10 extra innings victory in the nightcap.

Lasell (6-12, 2-2 GNAC) used a seven-run third inning to help fuel the victory in game one. The Lasers then rallied to force extra innings and win in the 10th in the second game.

Norwich falls to 0-13-1 (0-4 GNAC) following the sweep.

Junior Veija was 2-for-5 with four runs batted in to help the Lasers win the first game. Rob Knox led the Cadets at the plate in the opener, going 2-for-3 with a home run, a double and four RBIs. Greg Pawluk went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs batted in, while Donovan Brown was 2-for-5 with a triple and two runs scored.

After two scoreless innings, Lasell got to Norwich starter David Wygonski (0-3) for seven runs on seven hits in the third inning. The Lasers sent 11 men to the plate in the frame as the visitors took a commanding lead.

Norwich got three runs back in the bottom of the third. Brown's run-scoring triple and Knox's solo home run highlighted the uprising.

Lasell put five more runs on the board in the top of the fourth, though, to move in front 12-3. Veija's two-run single ignited the inning, which saw the first six Lasers reach base.

Norwich put four runs on the board in its half of the fourth inning to pull to within 12-7. Knox's three-run double highlighted the frame.

The Cadets tried to rally in the seventh inning, scoring a pair of unearned runs.

Mike Mahoney went 4-for-5 with a home run, three runs batted in and four runs scored to pace the Lasers in the game two victory. Donovan Brown paced the Cadets' offense in the nightcap, going 3-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and two RBIs.

The back-and-forth contest saw Norwich clinging to a 9-7 lead as the game moved to the top of the seventh. Lasell plated two runs in the frame, though, to push the game to extra innings. Neither team scored in the eighth inning, but Lasell went in front in the top of the ninth, 10-9. David Maxfield's two-out RBI double sent the game to the 10th inning, where the Lasers won it on Mahoney's RBI single. Norwich went down quietly in the bottom of the 10th, and Lasell was able to celebrate a sweep.

It looked like Norwich had won the game in the bottom of the seventh when Knox smashed a deep drive over the left fielder's head. Pawluk, who was on first base, motored all the way around to score what appeared to be the game-winning run. But Knox's hit was ruled a ground-rule double and Pawluk was ordered back to third base. Joe Sleeman came up with a chance to win the game, but struck out.

Alexandro Cardoza (0-1) pitched fairly well in relief, but was saddled with the loss for the Cadets. He gave up just one earned run on six hits over 5.0 innings of work

Article courtesy of Norwich Sports Information