Baseball Opens GNAC Play with Sweep of Norwich
The Lasers started their GNAC slate with a pair of wins over visiting Norwich University.
March 31, 2012
Waltham, MA – The Lasell College baseball team opened up Great Northeast Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon with a sweep over Norwich University in double header action at Stein Diamond on the campus of Brandeis University. Both games resulted in identical scores of 5-2 in favor of the Lasers. The sweep improves Lasell's record to 7-13 (2-0 GNAC) and Norwich falls to 2-15 (0-2 GNAC) with the two losses.
Game One
Lasell jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of game one after Corey Michel (Rochester, NH) reached on a single and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Bobby Stachura (Middletown, CT).
The Cadets took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning when Brandon Place (Concord, NH) and Joe Sleeman (Rochester, NY) scored on consecutive wild pitches by Lasell starting pitcher Brendan Jordan (Rocky Hill, CT). The Lasers answered in the bottom half of the inning by scoring two runs of their own. Stachura led the inning off with a triple, and scored on an RBI single by Cory Mitchell (Rockland, MA). Joshua Sullivan (ROckland, MA) struck an RBI double that scored Greg Sherman (Marshfield, MA) to give Lasell a 3-2 lead.
Stachura added to stellar game one by contributing with a two run single in the bottom of the sixth inning to increase the Laser lead to three.
The Lasers ousted a final chance for the Cadets and walked away with a 5-2 victory in game one.
Alexandro Cardoza (Cicero, IL), 1-3, took the loss for Norwich in game one after pitching five innings and allowing five runs on ten hits.
Jordan (1-0) earned the win for Lasell in five innings of work while only allowing two runs on three hits.
Sullivan, Stachura, and Billy Uberti (Newton, MA) all pitched in with multi-hit performances in game one. Sullivan led all batters with three hits, and was only a home run short of hitting for the cycle.
Game Two
Lasell trailed by a score of 2-0 after an inning and a half of game two was in the books. However, the team posted three runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 3-2 advantage. Stachura led off the inning with a single and then scored on a wild pitch to give Lasell its first run of the inning. Sullivan gave the Lasers the lead for good when he slapped a two run single, knocking home Michel and Matt Sammarco (New Canaan, CT).
In the home half of the fourth inning, Lasell added two insurance runs. Matt Mahoney (Rockland, MA) and Conor Cavanagh (Quincy, MA) each worked bases loaded walks, giving the Lasers a 5-2 cushion.
Dan O'Boyle (Bayport, NY) shut down the Cadets in relief to earn the victory and increase his record to 2-2. O'Boyle pitched five shutout innings out of the bullpen, while only allowing four hits and striking out three.
Jonathan Philbrook (Rochester, MA), 0-3, suffered the loss for Norwich after allowing three runs and walking four in three innings of work.
Lasell returns to action Sunday when it travels to Worcester, MA to take on Anna Maria College in double header, Great Northeast Athletic Conference play. Game one is scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m. and will be played at Gaskill Field on the campus of Worcester Academy.