March 25, 2001
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Lafayette used a dominant pitching performance in the first game and seventh inning offensive heroics in the second game to sweep Binghamton, 11-2 and 10-9 on Sunday in non-conference baseball action.
In the opening game, Lafayette seized control with a six-run second inning. Sophomore Matt Tambellini (Millville, N.J./Sacred Heart) led off the inning with a triple to right center. Classmate Brad Drake (East Stroudsburg/East Stroudsburg) brought him home with a sac fly. The Leopards got the bats going with two outs. Freshman Adam Rosenberg (Ocean Grove, N.J./Neptune) tripled to right to drive in a run, and leadoff hitter Tye Gonser (The Dalles, Ore./The Dalles) drove him in. Freshman Jason Boyd (Littlestown, Pa./Littlestown) kept the inning going with a double to right center. Junior Vince D'Angelis (Montvale, N.J./St. Joseph Regional) drove in the Leopards' final two runs of the inning with a two-run blast to right field to give Lafayette a 6-0 lead.
The Leopards' six-run inning would prove more than enough for Lafayette starter Matt Tambellini. The sophomore lefty struck out six and allowed just four hits and two runs (both unearned) while managing the complete-game victory.
RBI-singles from Rosenberg and Gonser in the bottom of the third gave the Leopards an 8-0 advantage and chased Binghamton starter Mark Peltz from the game with the loss.
D'Angelis tacked another run on the lead in the fourth, smacking a solo shot to right field for his second dinger of the game.
Binghamton managed to score two runs in the fifth. A two-out fly ball to center was caught and subsequently dropped by Gonser. The ball was ruled a no-catch by the umpire and allowed two runs to score to make the score 10-2.
Gonser redeemed himself in the next inning with an RBI triple. He finished 3-for-4 with three RBI in the game. The Leopards added a final run in the sixth to put the final at 11-2.
In the second game, Rosenberg cracked a three-run homer over the rightfield fence to give Lafayette a 10-9 win and the Sunday sweep.
Binghamton immediately got the bats going in the first inning, scoring three runs off Lafayette freshman starter Marcus Ward (New Tripoli, Northwestern Lehigh). Senior Tim Macko and junior Tim Collar both drove in runs with a single. The Bearcats' final run scored from third when Lafayette caught the runner at first in a run-down.
Lafayette runs in the first and second innings, came on an error by the catcher and a wild pitch, respectively to bring Lafayette within one, 3-2.
The Leopards took the lead, 5-3, following a three-run third inning. D'Angelis smashed his third home run of the day with a two-run shot to right. The Leopards added their final run of the inning on a suicide squeeze bunt by freshman Eric Vacca (Philadelphia, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy) that plated Tambellini.
Macko brought Binghamton within one, 5-4, on a solo homer to right off Ward in the top off the fifth. Ward ended the inning with a fly out to right and a line out to third, holding the 5-4 lead. Ward allowed four runs on eight hits over five innings.
In the home half of the fifth, Rosenberg came through with a two-out, two-run double to give Lafayette the 7-4 lead.
Binghamton struck back with four runs in the top of the sixth. T.J. Kowalchuk singled home J.T. Martin who had reach on a lead-off double off Lafayette reliever Jeff Zambrano (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove). Binghamton catcher Tyler McGonigal capped off a 4-for-6 day at the plate with a three-run home run to right off Lafayette reliever Ross Butler (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) to give Binghamton an 8-7 lead. Two of the runs on the home run were credited to Zambrano who threw one third of an inning and faced four batters.
Binghamton (5-11) added to its lead in the top of the seventh, scoring on an error to go up 9-7 going into the bottom of the seventh.
Lafayette catcher Jon Kline (Hingham, Mass./Thayer Academy) led off the Leopards' final at-bat with a double down the leftfield line. Vacca walked and junior Jason Moll (Montville, N.J./Newark Academy) struck out while trying to advance the runners on a bunt. The next batter up, Rosenberg, blasted the Jason Heindorf offering over the right field fence to give Lafayette the 10-9 win.
Butler (1-1) got the win, throwing one and two thirds innings while allowing two runs (1 earned) on three hits. Heindorf (0-1) took the loss after two and a third innings of work that included three runs, three strikeouts, three hits and three walks.
Lafayette (4-10) remains at home, playing East Stroudsburg on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
