Baseball: Lasers late rally comes up short against Suffolk

Waltham, Mass. – The Lasell University Lasers baseball team rallied late against the Suffolk University Rams but fell short in the non-conference matchup, 11-6, Wednesday night at Stein Diamond.

Suffolk started the game off with a bang as the leadoff hitter sophomore Garret Roberts (Stratham, Mass.) hit a ball deep over the center field wall. The Rams added a second in the top of the first as junior Luke Harder (Liverpool, N.Y.) drove a single up the middle that brought home freshman Harry Painter (Essex, Mass.).

The Rams doubled their tally in the second inning starting off with a single in front of the Lasell left fielder by sophomore Jonny Gilbride (Beverly, Mass.) that brought home senior Ben Isaak (Durham, N.H.) from third base. Painter brought in the second run of the inning as he hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Roberts and make it a 4-0 Suffolk lead after two innings of play.

Lasers got on the board in the bottom of the third inning as sophomore CJ Mills (Waltham, Mass.) beat out a ground ball to the shortstop that brought home freshman Devon Lapierre (Dover, N.H.) from third base cutting the Rams lead to three.

Suffolk answered the Lasell run in the third by getting one of their own in the top of the sixth as Gilbride came home to score on a wild pitch.

The Lasers answered the Rams in the bottom half of the inning as sophomore Ross Audet (Swansea, mass.) scored on an error by the Rams on a deep drive from senior Matthew Bischof (Sleepy Hallow, N.Y.) to get the game to within three again.

The Rams made it two straight innings with a run as senior Blaise Cormier (Wayland, Mass.) singled through the right left side of the infield and Harder beat the throw from the outfield to score. Cormier came around to score two batters later as he came home on an RBI single up the middle by Isaak giving the Rams a five-run lead after six and a half innings.

Lasell quickly answered with a crooked number of their own, as freshman Tyler DiNezza (Cranston, R.I.) came up as a pinch hitter and slapped an RBI single down the right field line bringing home sophomore Matthew Paharik (West Boylston, Mass.), and then Lapierre scored as the throw from the right fielder got past the third baseman and out of play. DiNezza came home to score two batters later as sophomore Bryan Baumann (Deerfield, Mass.) hit a lined shot into right field that was caught by the left field as the Lasers cut the lead to two after seven.

Freshman Griffin Ferreira (Westport, Mass.) singled through the left side and brought home Bischof to make it a one run game after eight innings.

After a scoreless eighth inning the Rams got back on the board with their last at bats on a homerun to left field by senior Shane Lake (West Roxbury, Mass.). Suffolk added more as two batters later Roberts hit his second homerun of the game to left center to bring home Isaak. With runners on the corners Painter hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Gilbride and take a five-run lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Senior Steven Rossi (Corning, N.Y.) came in and secured the win for the Rams as they took the game 11-6.

Junior George Breslin (Milton, Mass.) got the start and win for Suffolk going six and a third innings while giving up six hits and three earned runs while striking out six. Roberts led the way on offense for Suffolk going three for six with three RBIs and three runs scored including two homeruns. Painter drove in two runs and scored a run while going two of three at the plate. Lake and Harder both went three of five at the plate and both scored and drove in one run. Issak and Gilbride both had two hits and an RBI and Cormier added a hit and RBI as well.

Freshman Pierce Clare (Middletown, R.I.) was solid in relief throwing three innings while allowing one unearned run on three hits and struck out two. Mills, Baumann, Ferreira and DiNezza all drove in runs for the Lasers. Paharik went two for four on the day with a run scored and Lapierre went two for four with two runs scored.

The Lasers will be back in action on Saturday, April 23, when they travel to Anna Maria College for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup with the Amcats. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

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