Baseball Splits with Dubuque on Day Two of Florida Trip

FORT MYERS, Fla. (3/16/15) - The Lasell College baseball team earned a split in their doubleheader against the University of Dubuque on Sunday afternoon at the Player Development Complex in Fort Myers, Florida. Lasell dropped game one 4-2, but bounced back in the second game with a close 6-5 victory. With the split, the Lasers evened their record at 2-2, while Dubuque also evened out its record at 4-4 this season.

DUBUQUE 4, LASELL 2

Game one featured a solid pitching performance from Lasell senior Greg Sherman (Marshfield, Mass.) who allowed four runs (all earned), five hits, one walk and struck out seven batters over six innings on the hill. Lasers centerfielder Brandon Valentin (Meriden, Conn.) went a perfect 3-for-3 and drove in both runs for Lasell, while junior catcher Wes Hurty (Windsor, Conn.) also had a 3-for-3 showing in game one for the Lasers. 

After a clean three innings from Sherman, Dubuque got on the board in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Sophomore Will Fogel (Crystal Lake, Ill.) worked a walk to begin the frame and made it around to third base via two wild pitches. Classmate Daniel Casanova (Lake Tapps, Wash.) swung into a single that scored Fogel and put Dubuque up 1-0. Casanova came around to make the score 2-0 when Jacob Evans (Normal, Ill.) reached first on an error by Lasell. 

The Lasers scored two runs of their own in the top half of the sixth inning. Hurty and junior third baseman Tyler Flaherty (Portland, Maine) each singled to lead off the inning that put runners on first and second with no outs. Valentin doubled which plated Flaherty and Hurty and evened the score at 2-2. 

Dubuque answered the rally from Lasell with a sacrifice fly and an RBI single in the bottom half of the sixth, making the score 4-2. Dubuque's starting pitcher Dalton Garst (Winnebago, Ill.) sealed the game for the Spartans with three consecutive outs in the top of the seventh. Garst improved to 1-0, scattered 10 hits, allowed two runs and struck out six batters for Dubuque in the first game of the doubleheader. 

LASELL 6, DUBUQUE 5

The top four hitters of the Lasers lineup, junior Dan Gagnon (Pomfret Center, Conn.), seniors Matt Sammarco (New Canaan, Conn.) and Kevin Post (Cromwell, Conn.) and Hurty combined for an 8-for-16 performance, scored all six of Lasell's runs and provided a pair of RBI's that claimed the back end of the 6-5 doubleheader.

Dubuque scored in the top of the first inning with back-to-back RBI singles via Garst and Evans that made the score 2-0. The Lasers quickly answered in the bottom half of the same inning with a two RBI single from Hurty that evened out the score 2-2. A ground out from Valentin plated Post, and a fielding error allowed Hurty to cross the plate to boost the Lasers to the 4-2 advantage. 

Dubuque evened the score, 4-4, in the next inning with back-to-back RBI singles via Fogel and Casanova and added its fifth run in the top of the third on a fielding error by Lasell which allowed Dubuque to pull ahead, 5-4. 

Lasell added single runs in the bottom of the third and the fourth innings on an RBI single by junior Skylar Beckerman (Pensacola, Fla.) that plated Post. A failed pickoff attempt that allowed Gagnon to score all the way from first base then gave the Lasers a 6-5 lead. 

Lasers' sophomore pitcher John Almeida (North Smithfield, R.I.) came out of the pen and registered a strikeout in two innings of relief, while senior Vinny Romano (Yonkers, N.Y.) pitched the final two innings and picked up his first save of the year for Lasell to close the 6-5 victory for the Lasers. 

Both teams continue their schedule in Fort Myers tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17. Lasell plays Johns Hopkins University at 12:00 p.m., while Dubuque faces off with Manchester College (Ind.) at 9:00 a.m.