March 19, 2004
Box Score
STOCKTON, Calif. (www.lafayette.edu) - The Lafayette baseball team cranked out 14 hits and 13 runs to capture a 13-3 win over Pacific in non-conference action at Bill Hebert Field on Friday night.
Marcus Ward (2-0) earned his second win of the season. He threw eight innings and allowed three runs (1 earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
The Leopards' offense came out with a sense of urgency in the top of the first inning, scoring two runs. Jeff Rodgers set the table when he drew a lead-off walk. Adam Rosenberg doubled down the rightfield to leave runners on second and third. Jason Boyd's check-swing single to centerfield gave the Leopards the early 2-0 lead.
The visitors put three more runs on the board in the top of the third, as Adam Bucci, doubled home Rosenberg who had reached on a fielder's choice for the first of his three RBI on the day. The Leopards' second run of the inning, came with a close play at the plate. Craig Alexander rolled a ball to second base while Boyd headed home. Boyd eluded the tag of the catcher, and then tagged home to score the run. Lafayette took a 5-0 advantage with Rob Fioretti's sac fly to center.
Pacific challenged for a run in the bottom of the inning. Brandon Gottier led off with a single and moved to third base when Nick Sekiya singled to center. The Tigers had runners on first and third with one out when Matt Cavanaugh drove a foul fly ball down the rightfield line. Rosenberg reeled in the foul and threw a bullet to home plate to cut down Gottier to end the inning.
The Leopards added two more runs in the top of the fifth inning. Boyd reached on a one-out, three-base error when Pacific centerfielder dropped a flyball in the right centerfield gap. The next batter, Bucci, crushed Pacific starter Eric Stolp's offering over the rightfield fence to put Lafayette ahead 7-0. Bucci's second home run of the season chased Stolp from the game, as he allowed seven runs on six hits. He struck out four over four and a third innings in the loss.
Pacific broke through for a run in the bottom of the inning. A lead-off single by Jordan Seiber and a two-out knock by Aaron Harper scored Seiber to make it 7-1. Third baseman Ian Law ended the inning by back-handing and firing across the diamond to get the fleet-footed Sekiya.
The Tigers' offense challenged in the bottom of the seventh, but Ward was up to the task. He put the first two runners on base with a hit batsman and a single and was eventually left with runners on second and third and no outs. Ward cut down the No. 3, 4 and 5 hitters to end the inning with a six-run lead intact.
In the seventh, Lafayette loaded the bases with no outs. The Leopards squeaked out a run on Fioretti's sac fly to lead 8-1.
There were some fireworks in the bottom of the seventh. Kavanaugh was hit with a pitch, but the umpire called him back to the batter's box because he ruled that Cavanaugh did not make an attempt to get out of the way of Ward's offering. Pacific head coach Ed Sprague, a former Major Leaguer for the Toronto Blue Jays, was ejected for arguing the call. The ejection momentarily fired up the Tigers who scored two unearned runs on a fielding error by Ted Kramer and an Octavio Amezquita single to centerfield that made it 8-3.
Lafayette batted around the order and tacked on four more runs on in the top of the ninth. Rosenberg, who finished 3-for-5 with two doubles, collected his second two-bagger and Boyd, who went 4-for-6 with four RBI, drove him in with his second home run of the season. Lafayette scored two more when Eric Vacca was hit with a pitch with the bases loaded and Ted Kramer squirted a ball to rightfield.
Lafayette (4-9) and Pacific (13-9) will play the final game of the three-game series on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT. The series finale also marks the end of Lafayette's Spring Break training trip to California.
