April 10, 2004
Box Score (Game 1)
Box Score (Game 2)
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Lafayette pounded out 21 hits and 18 runs to beat Navy in the second game of a Patriot League baseball doubleheader on Saturday at the Class of 1978 Stadium. The Leopards won game two 18-6 after losing game one 10-9, despite leading 8-1 after three innings in the opener.
In game two, Lafayette (11-16, 4-6) snatched the early lead, striking for a trio of runs in the home first. The first three batters of the inning reached base on a walk and two singles to set the stage for Adam Rosenberg who drove in two runs with a single to rightfield. Adam Bucci's RBI-groundout followed to make it 3-0 at the end of one.
Rosenberg was the Leopards' offensive star the entire day. Batting from the cleanup spot, he finished the day 5-for-9 with nine RBI, including two home runs.
Lafayette took a 4-0 lead in the fourth. Jason Boyd led off with a double and later scored when Navy rightfielder Dean Farmer dropped a fly ball. The error was one of a season-high seven errors for Navy.
Navy (11-25, 5-5) took its first lead of the game with six runs in the top of the fourth. After retiring the first batter of the inning, Lafayette starter Brian Cope walked the next two Navy batters. Navy then scored runs on a fielder's choice and RBI-singles from Ryan McGinn, Jonathan-Matthew Johnston and Dominic Lopez. The big blow of the inning was Chris Ashinhurst's two-run double that tied the game at 4-4. Ashinhurst lined a ball to right and Rosenberg made a diving play, but could not hold on. Johnston's and Lopez's singles followed to give Navy the 6-4 advantage. Cope (3.2 IP, 6 R, 4 H, 2 W, 2Ks) was replaced by Matt Revelle with two outs in the inning.
The College Hill Nine were undaunted, retaking the lead with five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Eric Vacca and Jeff Rodgers each drove in runs with singles to tie the game, 6-6. Boyd then came through with a one-out single that scored Rodgers and Vacca.
Leading 9-6, Lafayette tacked on three more runs in the fifth. DH James Conrad drove in two runs by singling to right and Rosenberg plated another with an RBI-single to give the Leopards a 12-6 advantage. The Leopards added a run in the bottom of the sixth with Rodgers' sun-scoring single and three more in the seventh on a Matt Skellan RBI-single and two errors by the Navy defense. The Lafayette offense could not be slowed, as the Pards tacked on two more in the eighth on an RBI-single from Brian Astry and a run-scoring groundout from Nick Benvenuto. In that inning, Mike Raible collected for his first collegiate hit.
Revelle (2-2) pitched four and a third innings of one-hit baseball to earn the win. He struck out two and walked two. Matt Kamine came on in the ninth to close out the game. Rob Molinaro (0-6) was tagged for four runs on three hits in the loss.
In game one, Lafayette could not hold onto an 8-1 lead after three innings and lost a 10-9 decision. The Leopards scored four runs in the first inning. Boyd and Rosenberg each plated runs to give Lafayette a 2-0 advantage, and then Bucci (2-for-4, 2 RBI) connected for the big shot of the inning, a two-run blast to right field.
Trailing 4-0, Navy scored a run in the top of the second. J.P. Temperilli ripped a double down the leftfield line and later scored on a two-out single by Ashinhurst.
Lafayette added three more runs onto its lead in the second inning, all coming from Rosenberg's three-run jack to left centerfield that gave Lafayette a 7-1 margin. Lafayette scored another run in the bottom of the third inning on a Rodgers' RBI-single.
In the top of the fourth, singles by Temperilli and Matt Lukevics set the table for Ashinhurst who belted a ball just over the wll in left field. Ashinhurst's three-run home run cut the Lafayette lead to 8-4. Navy trimmed Lafayette's lead further with two more runs in the top of the fifth. Temperilli's third hit of the game, a two-run home run, made it 8-6.
The Mids struck for four more runs in the sixth to take the lead. Lafayette starter Marcus Ward started the inning, but walked the lead-off batter and gave up a single to David Silverman. That promoted Lafayette head coach Joe Kinney to go to the bullpen. He brought in Don Smith who walked the first batter he faced. Kinney made another call to the pen and brought in lefty Drew Moyer with the bases loaded. Moyer immediately enticed Pete Curnow to ground into a 6-4-3 doubleplay. A run scored on the doubleplay ball and Craig Candeto plated another with a single up the middle to tie the game a 8-8. With Candeto aboard, Ryan McGinn gave Navy the 10-8 lead with his second home run of the season.
The Leopards cut Navy's lead to 10-9 in the bottom of the sixth on Rosenberg's fifth home run of the season and second of the game, a one-out solo shot to rightfield. Joe Koessler gave up a single to the next batter and Navy went to the pen to bring in Burgess Nichols. Nichols ended the inning with a pop-out and a line-out.
Nichols continued to pitch well, retiring the Leopards in order in the seventh to close out the game and earn the save (4). He did not allow a hit in one and two-thirds innings. Koessler (2-2) tossed two innings and received the win for Navy, allowing one run on four hits. Moyer was tagged with the loss for, his first decision of the season. He gave up two hits on two runs in one inning of work. Ward threw five innings and allowed eight runs (7 earned) on eight hits.
The two teams will return to action on Easter Sunday for a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
