Mahoney Shuts Down New England College as the Lasers Cruise to 10-2 Victory

WALTHAM, MA- Behind seven shutout innings from Lasell starting pitcher Mike Mahoney (Rockland, MA), the Lasell College baseball team dominated New England College, 10-2, on Thursday evening on Stein Diamond.

The Lasers jumped ahead in the bottom of the second inning on two hits and two errors. After singles by Christopher Pittman (Brockton, MA) and Carlton Lentini (Wilmington,MA), Pilgrim catcher Jimmy Lauzon(Manchester, NH) attempted to pick off Lentini at first base. The throw was errant and went into right field scoring Pittman from second and giving the Lasers a 1-0 lead.

In the third the Lasers got another off Pilgrim starting pitcher Chris Wallace (Manchester, NH). After a Joshua Sullivan (Rockland, MA) single, Conor Cavanagh (Quincy, MA) hit a double off the right centerfield wall bringing Sullivan all the way around from first to give Lasell a 2-0 lead through three.

With Mahoney cruising, Lasell would continue to tack on runs. In the bottom of the fifth, following a Sullivan base hit, Cavanagh once again hit a double, this time to the left field wall, bringing Sullivan around the bags for his third RBI of the game. 

The Lasers doubled their lead in the bottom of the sixth (6-0) and then stretched their lead to 10 with a pair of runs each in the seventh and eighth. 

After loading the bases with no outs, Cory Mitchell (Rockland, MA) bunted bringing home two. Another run would come in later in the play as Mitchell was in a run-down stretching the lead to 6-0 through six.  

Billy Uberti (Newton, MA) and Lentini each scored, unearned, in the seventh.  Uberti tagged home on an error and Lentini was sent in by an Andrew Pompeo (Hingham, MA) single into right field. 

Sacrifice flies by Sullivan and Cavanagh plated Matt Mahoney (Rockland, MA) and Bobby Stachura (Middletown, CT) for the concluding Lasell runs in the eighth.

Matt Mahoney took the mound in relief in the top of the ninth inning for Lasell and struck out his first batter looking.  The Pilgrims would score their only two runs following that after Kameran Luther (Cumberland, RI) walked and Kevin Caputo (Dighton, MA) shot a home run over the left field wall.  Lasell's defense closed the inning with a fly out and a ground out in the next two plays. 

Mike Mahoney pitched a three-hitter through seven innings with four strikeouts, improving to 2-0 on the season.  Wallace took the loss for the Pilgrims going five innings, allowing three runs, two of which were earned on six hits.  New England College drops to 3-9 overall this season.

PJ Crowley (Pawcatuck, CT), Dalton Varnado (Groves, TX), and Pierce Byrd (Ft. Myers, FL) added one hit each for the Pilgrims in the game while Brandon Adorno (Fr. Myers, FL) got to base on balls twice.  

For Lasell, Lentini went 3-for-4 with two runs, Sullivan went 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI, and Cavanagh went 2-for-4 with three RBI to bring his total season RBI to 32 in 21 games.

The Lasers move to 11-10 on the season and will face Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponent Norwich University, Saturday, April 9th, at noon on Stein Diamond.