March 22, 2003
Box Score Game 1 | Box Score Game 2
CHARLESTON, S.C. (www.lafayette.edu) - The Lafayette baseball team closed out its spring training trip to South Carolina on Saturday with two nine-inning games at the College of Charleston. The host Cougars cranked out 16 hits and five home runs in the first game and 22 hits and three home runs in the nightcap to claim 12-1 and 23-4 victories.
In the opener, both starting pitchers cruised through the first four innings, with neither facing more than five batters in an inning. The Charleston offense drew first blood, breaking a scoreless tie with four runs in the bottom half of the fifth. After the first two batters of the inning reached on a hit batsmen and a fielding error, Brett Gardner sent a shot just over the wall in right centerfield. The Cougars added another run on a Matt Lauderdale single to take a 4-0 lead.
The Leopards threatened a big inning in the fifth, loading the bases on a lead-off single by Jason Boyd (2-for-4), a Craig Alexander walk and one of Matt Tambellini's three singles on the day. Charleston starter Reid Price worked his way out of the jam, however, getting two ground balls and a strikeout to preserve the lead.
The home team tacked on six runs in the seventh inning, all of them coming on home runs. Brett Spivey led off with a solo shot before Matt Hallett added a three-run blast and Mark Lyons a two-run homer to lead 10-0.
Facing reliever David Jablonski in the eighth, the Leopards broke up the shutout when Adam Bucci drove in Jason Boyd on a sacrifice fly to put the score at 10-1.
Charleston padded its lead to 12-1 with two more runs in the bottom of the eighth on a solo homer by Lee Curtis and pinch-hit RBI single by Roman Duty.
Price (2-2) got the win for Charleston, scattering seven hits while striking out seven batters over seven scoreless innings. Lafayette starter James Duer (0-1) allowed six runs (four earned) over six innings. He gave up nine hits, struck out three and did not walk a batter.
In the nightcap, Charleston jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back en route to a 23-4 decision. The Cougars scored two runs on Lafayette errors and added another on a Curtis double.
In the Lafayette second, the Leopards loaded the bases with no outs. Charleston starter Brett Harker killed the rally by striking out Matt Skellan and getting Giglio to hit into a 3-2-3 double play to end the inning.
Charleston padded its lead to 5-0 with a two-out rally in the second inning. Spivey roped a double down the right field line to drive in a run and Curtis scored him with an RBI-single. The hot-hitting Cougars added five more runs in the third, four in the fourth, three in the fifth, two in the sixth and four in the eighth.
The Leopards did their only offensive damage of the game in the sixth inning. Craig Alexander led off with a double and Bucci drove him in with a home run to right center, his second of the season. Freshmen Clint Losch and Skellan extended the rally with singles and Russ Giglio drove them in to make it 17-4.
Lafayette starter Tambellini made it through two innings before giving way to the Leopard relieving corps. Tambellini allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits in his first appearance of the season. Five relievers saw time on the mound for the Leopards.
Harker (3-1) worked seven innings, allowing four runs on eight hits. He struck out seven and walked two for his third win of the season.
Lafayette (2-5) returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to Penn for a 3 p.m. first pitch.
