May 3, 2011
Box Score
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The Lafayette baseball team pounded out 12 hits on Tuesday afternoon at Wagner but was unable to overcome seven extra-base hits by the host Seahawks in a 10-5 defeat. Sophomore third baseman Scott Kelleher picked up two RBI in the contest and five different Leopards had two hits apiece.
Both Lafayette and Wagner now stand at 17-26.
Seniors Rob Froio, Alex Bechta and A.J. Miller and junior Brian Davila joined Kelleher with two hits each. Froio and Miller each drove in a run, while Davila scored twice. A hit apiece from senior Matt Fenster and sophomore Thomas Dunleavy rounded out the Leopards' dozen hits on the day.
Freshman left-hander Connor Ortolf started on the hill in a scheduled "staff game". He allowed four hits and one earned run in 3.1 innings. Freshman right-hander Robert Tatum (0-1) took the loss with five earned runs allowed on four hits in one inning. Derek Gussaroff, Ben Meer and Joe Leo completed the work on the mound for the Maroon and White.
Wagner also worked a staff game, with Jack Rice (1-0) getting the win. Rice scattered four hits and allowed one earned run in four innings of relief.
The Seahawks got on the board first, posting a run in the bottom of the first inning courtesy of a two-out double by third baseman Tommy Higgins and an RBI single off the bat of right fielder Kevin McDonnell.
The 1-0 lead would not hold for long, as the Leopards struck back in the top of the second frame. Davila started the action with a one-out single, and Dunleavy followed by drawing a walk. Froio cashed in on the RBI opportunity, driving a single to centerfield to score Davila as the equalizing run.
Lafayette broke the deadlock in the top of the fourth inning. Davila got the rally started again, leading off the frame with a triple to centerfield. After Froio reached on an error with one out, Kelleher ripped a base-hit to the shortstop to plated Davila to give the Leopards their first lead of the afternoon. After Miller kept the inning alive with a two-out RBI single through the left side, the second Wagner error of the inning - a dropped fly ball that should have ended the frame - put another tally on the board to extend the Lafayette lead to 4-1.
A five-run fifth inning put the home team back on top, 6-4. An RBI double from McDonnell, a two-run two-bagger from left fielder Nick Alfano and two-run home run off the bat of first baseman Hayden Hunter accounted for Wagner's crooked number in the stanza. Single runs would cross the plate in the sixth and seventh innings as well as the Seahawks opened up an 8-4 edge.
Dunleavy doubled to lead off the top of the eighth inning for Lafayette, took third on an infield hit by Froio and came home on an RBI groundout by Kelleher. Bechta continued the rally with a single though the left side, but Wagner hurler Jack Rice battled back to set down the next two Leopards and limit the damage with the Seahawks still holding a lead at 8-5.
Wagner posted a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Dakota Dvorak pitched in and out of a base-loaded jam to finish off a 10-5 win for the Seahawks.
The Leopards will be back in action tomorrow, hosting Rider at Kamine Stadium at 3:30 p.m. Lafayette will host a three-game series against Le Moyne this weekend before the Patriot League Tournament begins on May 14. The No. 3 Leopards will travel to No. 2 Army for a best-of-three semifinal.
