May 4, 2008
Box Score (Game 1) | Box Score (Game 2) | Photo Gallery 
EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette baseball team swept Sunday's doubleheader against Stony Brook to take three of four in this weekend's home-and-home series. Senior Kevin Reese earned his 15th career victory with a 5-1 win in Sunday's opening game and the Leopards came out on top of a back-and-forth battle to take the second game 7-6.
Lafayette (25-22) won the first game thanks to a five-run third inning. Reese allowed just one run in 5.2 innings of work to earn his fourth win of the season and the 15th of his career. Joe Ezekiel and Tom Hayes both went 2-for-3 with a RBI and a run scored. Hayes finished the afternoon with six hits and four RBI.
The Seawolves jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after Reese gave up a leadoff double and a one-out RBI single to Michael Stephan.
Lafayette took the lead in the top of the third with five runs off Stony Brook starter Evan Stecko-Haley. Chris Luick reached first on a fielder's choice and Ezekiel's double to right field scored Luick. Senior Tom Ambrosole followed with another RBI double and Nick Tucker's sacrifice fly scored the Leopards' third run of the inning. Hayes followed with the inning's second double to plate Ambrosole, and Ryan Roberts sent Hayes home with a single to left field for the 5-1 Lafayette lead.
Reese did not allow another run after the first inning, working out of trouble in the fifth after putting two runners on base and left in the sixth with the 5-1 lead. Senior reliever Steve Roberts entered the game with two outs and two men on base in the top of the sixth and got Nick Thode to strike out swinging to end the inning. Roberts retired the side in order in the seventh for the 5-1 Lafayette victory.
In the second game, the Leopards scored runs in four different innings as the lead switched hands several times over the course of the game. A two-run homer from Daniel Bierce proved to be the decisive hit as Lafayette held on for the 7-6 win. Hayes went 4-for-4 at the plate, including his fourth home run of the season, while reliever Brian Mostek earned the win and Roberts collected his fifth save of the season.
Lafayette starter Ryan Hanna kept Stony Brook (26-19) off the scoreboard for three innings and his team went ahead in third when Matt Hall led off with a line drive single to right field. He came around to score on Hayes' RBI double to center field for the game's first run. Roberts singled through the left side to put runners on the corners for Rob Froio, who singled to left field to make it 2-0.
In the fourth, Hanna gave up a leadoff home run to Brian Witkowski to cut Lafayette's lead to one (2-1). The Seawolves tied the game on a Rob Dier double to center field and took a 3-2 lead on Mike Tansey's RBI single through the left side. Joe Kinney then went to his bullpen and brought in senior Jason Morytko, who got the final two batters to strike out swinging.
Lafayette regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Hall was a hit by a pitch and replaced in the game by Tucker. Hayes then came to bat and sent a pitch over the right field fence to give his team the 4-3 lead on his second home run of the season.
Stony Brook took the lead back in the sixth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Mike Tansey. A RBI single from Justin Echevarria made it 5-4.
In the bottom of the sixth, A.J. Miller hit a one out single to right field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Hayes singled to second base and Roberts singled to right field to plate Miller to tie the game at five.
Brian Mostek came in from the bullpen in the seventh and gave up two, one-out walks before surrendering a sacrifice fly to Dier to give the lead back to Stony Brook.
The lead switched hands yet again as the Leopards scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh on Bierce's home run. Froio opened the inning with a triple to right center and Bierce hit a pitch over the left field fence to make it a 7-6 Lafayette lead.
Roberts, who came on in relief in the eighth in his second appearance of the afternoon, struck out the side in the ninth to give the Leopards the doubleheader sweep.
The Leopards wrap-up their 2008 season with a road game against Rider on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
