Baseball Sweeps Pair at Rivier, Captures Seventh GNAC Win
NASHUA, N.H. (4/13/14) – The Lasell College baseball team swept a pair of Great Northeast Athletic Conference games at Rivier University, 8-6 and 9-4 on Saturday afternoon at Holman Stadium. The Lasers pushed their record to 13-9 overall and 7-3 in GNAC games while Rivier slid to 1-21 on the year and 0-8 in league action.
Game One – Lasell 8 – Rivier 6
Billy Uberti (Newton, Mass.) singled and doubled and knocked in two runs for Lasell, Dan Gagnon (Pomfret Center, Conn.) went 4-for-5 at the plate with a run scored and one driven in, and Kevin Post (Cromwell, Conn.) finished with a pair of singles as well. Gary Trottier (Rehoboth, Mass.) threw six innings, allowing three runs, two earned while allowing six hits and striking out four while Aaron Catarina (N. Smithfield, R.I.) yielded three runs in an inning of relief.
Rivier opened with a run in the bottom of the first inning but Lasell came right back with two in the top of the second inning. Rob Madden (Hingham, Mass.) singled to start things off, Hector Coscione (Newton, Mass.) walked and a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out for Lasell. Matt Sammarco (New Canaan, Conn.) singled in a run and a Gagnon single plated another as Lasell took a 2-1 lead.
The Lasers added three more in the top of the third, getting one on a sacrifice fly by Madden, another on a single from Coscione and one more on a Raiders error to take a 5-1 lead. Gagnon led off the top of the fourth with a single, coming in to score on a double by Uberti who later came in to score on a single by Kevin Post, giving Lasell a 7-1 lead.
Rivier cut the Lasell lead to 7-3 with a pair of runs in the home half of the fourth inning, but Lasell added one back in the top of the fifth inning on a Uberti single that made it an 8-3 ballgame. Catarina relieved Trottier in the bottom of the seventh, allowing three runs on three hits and a walk, but Lasell captured the 8-6 victory.
Game Two – Lasell 9 – Rivier 4
Hector Coscione had a double and two singles, scoring twice and driving in three to propel Lasell to a 9-4 victory. Rob Madden added a pair of singles for Lasell and Chris Pittman (Brockton, Mass.) knocked in a pair of runs while notching a single. Kevin Post threw five innings, allowing four runs, three earned on eight hits to record his fourth win of the year, Greg Sherman (Marshfield, Mass.) tossed a hitless inning and two thirds of relief with two strikeouts and Vinny Romano (Yonkers, N.Y.) closed out the win retiring the only batter he faced.
Lasell opened the scoring in the top of the first inning, getting a two-out single by Wes Hurty (Windsor, Conn.) followed by a single by Pittman to make it 1-0 in the Lasers favor. Rivier tied the game with a run in the home half of the third inning, but Lasell put up four runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 5-1 lead. Hurty reached on an error to open the inning, advanced to second on a sacrifice, and moved to third on a fielder's choice that saw Post reach as well. Madden singled to plate Hurty and Coscione followed with a single that scored Post from second and sent Madden to third. Madden scored on a sac fly by Bobby Ellard (Medfield, Mass.), and Brandon Valentin (Meriden, Conn.) singled to score Coscione, giving Lasell a four run cushion.
Uberti doubled and scored on a Pittman grounder in the top of the fifth inning, allowing Lasell to take a 6-1 lead. Rivier responded with three runs on four hits in the home half of the fifth, leaving Lasell clinging to a 6-4 lead.
The Lasers added one in the top of the sixth on a run-scoring single by Gagnon and two more in the seventh on a double by Coscione to produce the 9-4 final score for the victory.
Lasell returns to action on Sunday April 13th when they travel to Albertus Magnus for a GNAC twinbill beginning at 12:00 p.m.