Sullivan and Cavanagh Star as Lasers Take Two from MCLA

WALTHAM, MA- The Lasell College baseball team swept a doubleheader Saturday afternoon against Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts with an 8-7 victory in game one, followed by a 4-1 win in game two.

In the first game, the Trailblazers hopped on the Lasers early taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first when first baseman Osiris Melendez (Queens, NY) deposited an Eric Howard (Newton, MA) fast ball deep over the left field wall.

With Howard settling in, the Lasers responded in the bottom of third. After a base hit to right field off the bat of shortstop Carlton Lentini (Wilmington, MA) and a walk from designated hitter Matt Mahoney (Rockland, MA), second baseman Joshua Sullivan (Rockland, MA) stepped into the box and lined a two-out double down the left field line off of MCLA starting pitcher Daniel Gaines (Holyoke, MA). The double knocked in two runs, tying the game at 2-all.

With the score still notched at two a piece in the bottom of the fourth, the Lasers rallied off four runs on five hits, with three MCLA errors. Bobby Beauchesne (Lowell, MA) relieved Gaines to escape with no further damage.

MCLA responded immediately in the top half of the fifth. With no outs, one run already in and the bases loaded, catcher Zach Theulen (W. Springfield, MA) cleared the bags with a double to deep center off of Howard, tying the game at six. 

With the game still even in the bottom of the sixth, the Lasers got two runs off of Beauchesne on successive walks by Mahoney and Sullivan. After a passed ball moved the runners to second and third, Mahoney scored on a wild pitch, with Sullivan advancing to third. Sullivan then scored on a Trailblazer error on a ground ball off the bat of Conor Cavanagh (Quincy, MA) which would prove to be the winning run.

With the score 8-6 entering the final inning, the Lasers turned to Sullivan, to close out the game. After giving up one unearned run, Sullivan struck out Beauchesne to secure the win for the lasers.

Howard got the win, going six innings, giving up six runs, five of which were earned, while striking out 10 and walking three. Sullivan's save gave him his third for the season, setting a new Lasell College all-time record for saves in a season.

Buechesne got the loss out of the pen, pitching 2.2 innings, allowing two runs, only one earned, on one hit and three walks while striking out four.  Gaines went 3.1 innings, allowed four earned runs and six total runs on seven hits. 

Lentini and Sullivan went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI each and three runs between them. Christopher Pittman (Brockton, MA) added two hits and a run and Mahoney finished with two runs and one hit.  

For MCLA, Theulen went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two doubles and Mendez added one hit, two RBI, and three runs scored.

In contrast to game one, the second game started off well for the Lasers, taking a 2-0 lead in the first. Matt Mahoney started things off with a walk and Cavanagh blasted a deep two-run home run to right off of MCLA starter Sean Hermance (Elizaville, NY). The Lasers added another run on back-to-back to errors by the Trailblazers.

With the score 3-0 in the top of the fourth, Lasell starting pitcher Matt Pitts (Stoneham, MA), who had yet to give up a hit, gave up a lead-off home run to outfielder Joe Parillo (W. Springfield, MA), cutting Lasell's lead to 3-1. 

Lasell responded in the bottom half of the inning to tag another run. After a Bobby Stachura (Middletown, CT) single to left and a Michael Mahoney (Rockland, MA) sacrifice, Stachura scored on a throwing miscue by MCLA. 

The defensive play of the day came on a spectacular double-play by Lasell in the top half of the fifth. With a man on first, Lesarbeau hit a bullet up the middle which Lentini laid out to make the grab on one hop. Lentini flipped the ball to Sullivan at second who made the turn to first baseman Billy Uberti (Newton, MA).

That would be the best chance the Trailblazers would have against Pitts who made just one mistake, pitching 7 innings, allowing one run on three hits. 

Hermance went six innings for the Trailblazers giving up four runs, two of which were earned.

Cavanagh, Pittman, Uberti, and Stachura all went 1-for-3 in game two with Cavanagh knocking in two runs while also scoring twice. 

MCLA falls to 5-7 on the season while the Lasers moved to 9-5 so far this year. 

Lasell will host Eastern Nazarene College on Tuesday, March 29th, at 7:00 p.m. at Brandeis University, on Stein Diamond. 

Written by: Matthew Cermola, Athletics Intern