Baseball Wins Two at Doubleheader with St. Joe's (NY)

BROOKLYN, NY- The Lasell College inaugural baseball team produced their first two wins on Sunday in a double-header at Saint Joseph's College (NY).  The Lasers were led by Patrick Girard (Stonington, Conn.), who went 5-for-9 (.556), with one triple, batting in three and scoring four.

In the opener, St. Joseph's scored at the bottom of the first to pull out a 1-0 advantage.  Lasell rebounded in the top of the third with Girard and Herb Chappell (Salem, Conn.) each scoring to jump ahead.  The Bears, however, tied the game in the bottom of the inning to A.J. Passione (Brooklyn, NY) scoring off a single by Joseph Boccia (Westwood, NJ).

Lasell took a considerable lead during the fifth and sixth innings, knocking in nine runs to go up 11-2.  Matt Mahoney (Rockland, Mass.) opened the fifth frame with a triple to right field.  After Girard walked, Chappell hit in Mahoney with a double to right field. Conor Cavanaugh (Quincy, Mass.) advanced Chappell on the next play, and batted in Girard, followed by Carl Lentini (Wilmington, Mass.) bringing home Chappell.  Angelo Colucci (Stoneham, Mass.) brought in the final two RBI's of the inning, scored by Mike Grenier (Fitchburg, Mass.) and Lentini.

Girard, Chappell, Cavanaugh, and Lentini each scored again in the sixth, with Colucci and Grenier earning another RBI each. 

St. Joseph's staged a late rally in the bottom seventh with big hits from Chris Davidson (San Carlos, CA) and Mario Noriega (Los Angeles, CA) with the bases loaded scoring three of the Bears six runs in the inning. The Bears sent the potential tying run to the plate with two runners on and two outs, but a grounder back to the mound closed the game out 11-8. Lasell's starting pitcher Josh Sullivan (Rockland, Mass.) earned the win, pitching five innings and giving up just 2 runs in the game, and striking out six Bears hitters.

In the second game, the Lasers took the lead in the second inning with Chappel, Lentini, and Junior Veija (Randolph, Mass.) scoring on two errors by St. Joe's.  After a Bear run in the 2nd, Veija sent off a homerun in the 4th to give Lasell a 4-1 edge. 

Nick Guzman (Worcester, Mass.), Lasell's starting pitcher, was relieved after four innings, however, by the end of the fifth, St. Joe's had taken their first lead of the game 5-4.  The Lasers regained control of the scoreboard in the sixth and scored four runs after an error by Anthony Langone (Staten Island, NY) kept the game alive for Lasell with 2 outs.  In the final inning, Lasell tallied four more insurance runs as Matt Mahoney took the mound as the final relief for the Lasers and struck out six, giving up no runs, and allowing just two runners on in the final 2.2 innings.  Mahoney was credited with the 12-5 win.

The Lasers, now and even 2-2 on the year, are next scheduled to play on Wednesday, March 18th in Fort Myers, Florida, where the Lasers will travel for spring training.  Lasell will face Illinois College in a double-header at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.