May 8, 2010
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - Lafayette survived a blustery day that wreaked havoc on fielders to take both games of Saturday's doubleheader against Niagara. The Leopards won the first 5-4 in walkoff fashion and put up 12 runs in a game two victory.
A.J. Miller had a five-hit day with three hits, including a home run, and three RBI in game one before adding two more hits and two more RBI in the nightcap. Five Leopards had multi-hit efforts in that second game as the team collected 14 hits in en route to its 12-7 win, marking the most runs the team has scored since early April.
Lafayette's game one starter, Zach Fritz, lasted 4.1 innings and gave up three runs on three hits before giving way to the bullpen. Reliever Jeff Snell surrendered a run in the seventh to tie the game but picked up the win after Miller drove home the winning run.
The Leopards (14-30) got the scoring started in the second. Scott Kelleher led off with a triple to dead center and Miller promptly followed with a hard line drive to right center for a RBI hit and a 1-0 Lafayette lead. Two walks loaded the bases still with no one out and Matt Hall hit a sac fly to center for a 2-0 score.
It remained 2-0 until the fifth when Brian Deering led off with a solo shot to right field and Fritz proceeded to put runners on second and third with only one out. Matt Wietlispach hit a two-RBI single to center as Niagara (13-33) took its first lead of the game, 3-2.
Miller quickly erased that lead with a one-out solo shot in the sixth. A.J. Pisarri was hit by a pitch and a throwing error on a ball hit by Matt Fenster put runners on second and third with one out for Hall, who was intentionally walked to bring up Brian Davila. Davila hit a bases-load sac fly as Lafayette retook the lead, 4-3.
Snell came on to pitch the top of the seventh but with two outs, gave up a game-tying hit to Jason Cramer.
The seventh opened with a Justin Shepherd single through the left side. He eventually came home to score the game-winning run when Miller's double to left center, his third hit of the game, gave Lafayette the 5-4 victory.
Game two starter Corey Shea pitched well enough to make Lafayette's 12 runs more than enough to sweep the doubleheader. Shea pitched 5.1 innings and gave up five runs. John Gentile tossed the final 3.2 innings and gave up only two runs in relief.
Davila got the scoring started in a big way, blasting a three-run shot to deep center with one out in the second inning for his first career home run. That followed a Niagara fielding error that led to the inning's first run. The fifth and final run of the inning came courtesy of another Purple Eagles error, this time a throwing error by shortstop Jason Cramer that allowed Rob Froio to score.
Fenster and Kelleher came up with back-to-back RBI singles to stretch the Leopards' lead to 7-0. Miller followed with a double to right field that scored Fenster and Kelleher with the team's eighth and ninth runs of the game.
The Purple Eagles strung together a couple of hits off Shea in the fifth to break up the shutout and make it 9-1. They added two more runs in the sixth on four hits before Joe Kinney called on Gentile with one out in the inning. Niagara greeted Gentile with two doubles, leading to three more runs and shrinking Lafayette's lead to three (9-6).
The Leopards quickly got back two of those runs in their bottom half of the sixth on RBI singles from first baseman Brad Hopek and Pisarri.
Gentile surrendered another run in the seventh but the Leopards tacked on an insurance run in the eighth thanks to Bobby Fargnoli's hit through the left side that allowed Hopek to score.
Lafayette wraps-up its 2010 season tomorrow with a 1 p.m. game against Niagara. The team's six seniors will be honored prior to the first pitch.
