April 28, 2001
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (www.lafayette.edu) - The Lafayette baseball team secured a split with perennial Patriot League power Navy on Saturday, taking the first game 7-3 before losing the second 8-4.
Lafayette spotted Navy a pair of runs in the opener, trailing 2-0 at the end of four innings. The Leopard bats got going in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs. Jason Boyd (Littlestown, Pa./Littlestown) drove in the first run with a double to left center. Craig Alexander's (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) infield single drove home the final two runs of the inning, including the eventual game-winning run, as the Leopards led 3-2.
Lafayette supplemented its lead with three runs in the sixth. The 'Pards scored a run on a fielding error and then Boyd plated two more runs with a single to right to give Lafayette a 6-2 lead. He finished the game 3-for-3 with three RBI.
Navy sliced a run off the lead in the bottom of the inning when David Woolsey scored on a double-play ball to make the score 6-3.
Lafayette added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. First baseman Spence Green (Atlanta, Ga./Westminster) singled home Alexander.
Matt Tambellini (Millville, N.J./Sacred Heart) got the win for the Leopards, throwing four and two thirds innings. The sophomore lefthander allowed two runs on five hits. Lafayette reliever Kevin Swords (Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis) picked up the save. Swords threw two and a third innings, allowing one run on two hits.
In the nightcap, Navy bounced back for an 8-4 win. The game was tied 3-3 through three innings. The Leopards scored two runs in the second inning, one an error and the other on a SAC fly from Eric Vacca (Philadelphia, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy). The Leopards' third run came on an RBI-groundout from senior Ian Burley (Nazareth, Pa./Notre Dame).
Navy's Nick Sylvester connected for a two-run double to bring home the go-ahead runs and give the Mids a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth.
The Leopards cut the Midshipmen lead in half (5-4) when Alexander doubled home Boyd who had reached on a lead-off single.
Navy put the game out of reach with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. A solo home run by Dominic Niccolini, a sac fly from Jason Guidos and an Andy Mild single accounted for the runs and put the final at 8-4.
Sophomore Joe Saporetti (Woodbury Heights, N.J./Gateway Regional) took the loss on the mound for the Leopards. Saporetti tossed six innings, allowing eight runs (6 earned) on 10 hits.
Lafayette (10-29, 5-13) and Navy (19-23-1, 12-6) return to action tomorrow for another Patriot League doubleheader beginning at noon.
