April 21, 2002

Game 1

Game 2

EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - The Lafayette baseball team used a 3-for-3 three performance from Vince D'Angelis and received a complete game from Joe Saporetti to bounce back and win the night cap, 8-3, over Navy on Sunday. Navy claimed the first game of the Patriot League doubleheader 6-3.

Lafayette stands at 19-15 overall and 9-3 in Patriot League play following a four-game series with Patriot League preseason favorite Navy. The Leopards have two Patriot League series remaining. Navy which only has one four-game conference series remaining, goes to 15-22 overall and 10-6 in conference play.

Saporetti's fourth complete game victory of the season was the story in the nightcap. He threw seven innings and scattered six hits while striking out seven and walking none. The junior righty allowed just one earned run in the game.

Lafayette led 1-0 after the second inning thanks to senior Jason Moll's RBI-single up the middle that plated junior Matt Tambellini.

The Leopards took command of the game with a four-run rally in the bottom of the fourth inning. Lafayette manufactured its first two runs, using a single, a walk and a sacrifice bunt to put two runners in scoring position. Two Lafayette outfielders, Tye Gonser and Adam Rosenberg, came through with RBI-singles in back-to-back plate appearances. After a pitching change, third baseman D'Angelis knocked in Rosenberg and Gonser to give Lafayette a 5-0 lead.

Hitting out of the No. 2 spot, Rosenberg drove in his second run of the day in the fifth inning. His opposite field double brought in Moll and gave Lafayette a 6-0 lead.

Navy mustered just two hits against Saporetti through the first five innings of the game, but the Mids got to him for a run in the top of the sixth. A pair of one-out singles was followed by an RBI -groundout by Jake Miller that made it 5-1.

Lafayette answered with two more runs in the sixth on a two-run home run by sophomore Craig Alexander, his third round-tripper of the season. The Mids scored two unearned runs in the seventh inning, on a triple by Pete Curnow and a single by John Cocca.

Brian Pennell took the loss for Navy, allowing five runs (4 earned) in 3.1 innings of work.

In the first game of the Patriot League doubleheader on Sunday, Navy scored three runs in the fourth and fifth innings to hang on for a 6-3 victory.

Lafayette opened the game with a run in its first at-bat. Rosenberg, who had reached on a single, scored when D'Angelis pulled a double down the left field line. Lafayette added two more in the second inning to lead 3-0. Freshmen Justin Hayden and Robert Fioretti both had hits in the inning, but it was Jeff Rodgers ' groundout that scored the Leopards first run. Lafayette got a second run in the inning on an error by the shortstop, one of two Navy errors in the frame.

Navy wasted little time tying the game. The Mids cranked out three runs, the first on a Will Mahan groundout and the final two on a Miller two-run home run.

Navy scored three runs in the next two innings. Jason Guidos singled home Craig Candeto in the Navy fourth to lead 4-3. The Mids added two more on sacrifice flies by Brad Hager and Candeto and led 6-3 in the fifth.

Lafayette could not rekindle the fire in its bats in the final three innings. Navy starter Matt Foster and reliever Bryan Koehler retired Lafayette in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh. Foster earned the win, allowing three runs (2 earned) on six hits in six innings. Koehler came on to throw the seventh and got the save. Tambellini was credited with the loss. He threw four innings and allowed six runs (5 earned) on seven hits. Hank Fichtner threw three innings of three-hit baseball.

Lafayette (18-15, 8-3) returns to action on Wednesday when the Leopards host Binghamton at 3:30 p.m. at Metzgar Field.