April 13, 2013

2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Army 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 4 1 Lafayette 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 6 2 Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) 1

EASTON, Pa. - Each starter went the distance, but Army came away on the winning side of a 2-1 decision against Lafayette in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at Kamine Stadium.

The Black Knights (13-16, 4-5 Patriot) rode starting pitcher Chris Rowley's complete game effort to the win and left the tying run at second base to end the game. With Andrew Santomauro on second and one out, Rowley struck out Thomas Dunleavy and Kevin Casey to close out the game with 11 punchouts. Casey led Lafayette (6-27, 3-6 Patriot) with two hits on the day.

The Leopards put two runners on base with one away in the first inning against the reigning Patriot League Pitcher of the Year, Rowley. Dunleavy reached with a one-out hit up the middle before Casey sent a single through the hole on the left side. Rowley was able to recover, getting Scott Kelleher to pop up and Alex Osuchowski went down swinging.

Mark McCants gave the Black Knights their first hit of the day with a single to center field, before he advanced to third on a stolen base and an error. A sacrifice fly by Jacob Page allowed McCants to score and Army led 1-0 after Rowley struck out the side in the bottom of the frame.

Massa responded with a 1-2-3 inning of his own, inducing a pair of groundouts prior to a punchout of Patrick Mescher. A leadoff single to shortstop extended Andrew Landolfi's hitting streak to five games, but he was erased when Santomauro grounded into a double play. Dunleavy took Rowley's two-out offering in the back and went to second on a wild pitch before Casey struck out swinging to leave him in scoring position.

Another perfect inning for Massa extended the lefty's stretch of retiring Army hitters to seven straight to end the fourth inning. For the second straight frame, Lafayette started things with a base hit - a line drive to left by Kelleher. Osuchowski was then hit by a pitch to put two men on. A failed sacrifice bunt gave Rowley an out and kept runners at first and second, but Parker Hills came through with an RBI single back through the box to tie the score at 1-1. Pinch hitter Brad Hopek earned a free pass to load the bases, but Landolfi struck out swinging and Santomauro popped up to leave the bases loaded.

Back-to-back strikeouts for Massa helped him put together a shutdown inning in the fifth, capped by two strikeouts to make it 10 in a row. A one-out double off the top of the fence in left center put the Maroon and White in position to take the lead, but they failed to bring him home and the score remained tied at 1-1 after five.

A hard hit ball to second by Harold Earls was stopped by Casey diving to his right, but his throw went into the Army dugout and Earls moved to second. A flyout to shallow right kept Earls there before Mescher singled him to third. Facing McCants with runners on the corners and one away, Massa got him to fly out down the left field line, but it was deep enough to score Earls from third. The unearned run gave Army a 2-1 advantage going into the home half of the sixth.

Two strikeouts and a fly ball to center put Lafayette down in order and then Massa completed his outing with a perfect seventh. The senior gave up two runs, one earned, on four hits, while striking out four and walking two in a complete-game loss.

Fans can follow along during game two of the doubleheader on twitter @LafayetteBsbl, online by using .