May 2, 2010
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - Despite taking three of four from Navy, including a come-from-behind win in game one on Sunday, the Leopards will not be playing in the 2010 postseason as other Patriot League teams did not give Lafayette the help it needed.
The Leopards (12-29, 7-13) used a three-run sixth inning in the Sunday opener to grab a 7-6 victory but with Bucknell's 1-0, game one shutout of Army, the Bison clinched the fourth and final spot in the 2010 Patriot League Tournament.
Navy (28-21, 7-13) used a 26-hit, 20-run game two to take the series finale 20-5, preventing Lafayette from taking all four.
Bobby Fargnoli and Matt Fenster were the offensive stars of game one, with Fargnoli going 2-for-2 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBI. Fenster, meanwhile, came up with the game-winning hit in the sixth and finished with a hit and two RBI.
The Lafayette bullpen pitched three innings of one-run ball to help keep the Leopards in position to make a late charge.
The first three runs scored by Lafayette in the game all came with two outs. The Leopards grabbed the first lead of the day in the third inning. Fargnoli led off with a single and Matt Hall sacrificed him to second. With two outs, Rob Froio came up with the clutch hit through the left side of the infield that sent Fargnoli home.
Fargnoli's hot hitting continued in his fourth-inning at-bat. In the fourth, he came to bat with two outs and one man on and belted a shot over the left field fence for the 3-0 Lafayette lead.
Starting pitcher John Gentile ran into trouble in the fifth and it resulted in Navy taking its first lead of the game. The Midshipmen led off with back-to-back hits that made it 1-0. Still with no one out and two runners on, Matthew Curley sent a ball that carried over the right center field fence, quickly erasing Lafayette's lead and making it 4-3 Navy.
Jack Rems relieved Gentile with no outs in the fifth and a costly fielding error by second baseman A.J. Pisarri helped the Mids tack on an additional run for a 6-3 ballgame.
The Leopards had yet another two-out rally left in them, however. Scott Kelleher came to bat in the fifth with two outs and runners on first and third. The rookie came through with a bloop double to right field that scored Davila and cut Navy's lead to two (6-4).
A two-out walk to Miller loaded the bases and prompted Navy to make a pitching change. Pisarri was called out at first on a controversial call by the first base umpire and it remained 6-4 as the game headed into the sixth.
Lafayette put two runners on to open the bottom of the sixth and Davila sacrificed both over with a bunt. With runners on second and third, Froio came to the plate and sent Fargnoli home with a RBI groundout.
With the Leopards now down just one (6-5), Justin Shepherd drew a walk to extend the inning and Fenster batted with the tying run on the third and the go-ahead run on first. The junior came through in the clutch, sending the ball just inside the right field foul line to score both runners and put the Leopards ahead 7-6.
Jeremy Atkins, who had entered the game in relief in the fifth, came back out in the seventh and retired the first batter on a fly ball. The Leopards turned to their closer, Jeff Snell, to get the final two outs. Snell worked around a two-out hit by striking out Josh Moore swinging and end the game.
Game two was a different story for Lafayette. The Leopards used seven pitchers who combined to allow 20 runs on 26 hits, including a nine-run sixth inning.
Lafayette actually took the first lead of the game in the opening inning. Froio led off with a standup double to deep left center and Fenster came up with yet another clutch hit with a hit through the left side that sent Froio home.
In the top of the second, starter Sean McGrath put the first three Navy three runners on and Nick Droscoll drew a bases-loaded walk to tie it at one. Head coach Joe Kinney had a short leash and went to Atkins out of the bullpen for his second appearance of the day. A Mike Guadagnini sac fly made it 2-1 and Atkins retired Azor on a groundout.
The Midshipmen extended their lead to 3-1 courtesy of Michael Speciale's leadoff home run in the third.
Lafayette got back a run in its half of the third. Davila and Froio both reached base to open the inning and Shepherd's hard hit up the middle cut it to 3-2.
Atkins began to run out of gas in the fourth, giving up two more runs, both with two outs, as Navy went up 5-2.
Corey Young came in to pitch the fifth but lasted only one-third of an inning, while giving up two more runs, before giving way to Ian Dickson with a 1-1 count on Moore and only one out with a runner on base. A RBI groundout made it 8-2 in favor of the Mids and Dickson gave up the fourth run of the inning on Azor's RBI single up the middle.
Lafayette got a run back in the fifth on Kelleher's two-out double to right field.
The Mids put nine runs across the plate in the sixth on nine hits and two Lafayette errors to effectively put the game out of reach. The Midshipmen batted around and saw three different Leopard pitchers.
Lafayette did add three runs to its total in the sixth inning courtesy of a Froio groundout and a two-RBI triple off the bat of Fenster.
Navy tacked on solo runs in the seventh and ninth innings to make it the 20-5 final.
The Leopards are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Rider for a 3:30 p.m. game. They return home next weekend to host Niagara in the final series of the season. Lafayette will honor its seniors on Sunday prior to the 1 p.m. first pitch.
