BB: JWU Hands Lasers Pair of GNAC Losses

Providence, RI - On Friday afternoon, the Lasell University baseball team traveled to Johnson & Wales for a pair of critical late-season Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) games at Scott Miracle-Gro Stadium. They would unfortunately drop both contests by scores of 9-2 and 5-4, falling to 22-11 (10-3 GNAC) while JWU improved to 22-13 (13-2 GNAC). 

Game 1

The Lasers jumped ahead early in the bottom of the first when Declan Silva drove in CJ Mills and later scored on a groundout by Scott Lyon. However, the Wildcats responded with a four-run third inning, highlighted by a three-run homer from Owen Davis. Johnson & Wales added runs in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and ninth, piling up 16 hits to the Lasers 8. Laser's starter Matthew Fletcher, who was previously unbeaten, suffered his first loss of the season, surrendering six earned runs over five innings. Offensively, Lasell was led by Silva and Connor Freitas, who each tallied two hits and contributed the Lasers two RBIs. First basemen Pierce Clare also supplied two hits in the losing effort. 

Game 2

Johnson & Wales struck first in the second matchup, scoring a run in the opening frame on a wild pitch, then adding three more in the third. The Lasers then responded in the bottom of the third with a two-run single from Connor Freitas, cutting the deficit to 4–2. In the fifth, Tim Callahan's RBI double and another run-scoring single from Freitas evened the score at four apiece. Adam Marsh battled through six innings on the mound for Lasell but took the loss after the Wildcats pushed across the go-ahead run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly. Despite strong relief outings from Ty Lohsen and Owen Caldwell, the Lasers couldn't manufacture any runs in the game after the fifth inning. Freitas led the Lasell offense with three RBIs, while Callahan had two hits, an RBI, and scored twice. Declan Silva also chipped in with two hits, including a triple. The Lasers were held hitless over the final three innings by reliever Ryan Schultz, who earned the save with seven strikeouts in three perfect frames.

Up Next - The Lasers look to rebound and finish the regular season strong with two final GNAC matches at Anna Maria on Sunday.