Box Score

LEXINGTON, Va. – Lafayette found itself down 7-0 after three innings of Sunday afternoon's series finale at VMI, and despite a valiant comeback attempt in the later stages was unable to come all the way back in an eventual 8-5 defeat.

The Leopards (0-3) did not commit an error in the first two contests of the weekend, but three early miscues led to a trio of early unearned runs today.

Steven Cohen (2-for-5, three RBIs) and Tyler Hudson (2-for-4, two RBIs) were Lafayette's top producers on offense, while Michael Coniglio added three hits from the top of the lineup. David Giusti, meanwhile, pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief in his collegiate debut to give the Maroon and White a chance to rally late. He struck out three and allowed three hits and a walk.

The Leopards plated their first two runs with one out in the fifth inning. Three straight singles from Jackson Kramer, Andrew Landolfi and Coniglio brought Cohen to the plate with the bases loaded, and he came through with a single to right field to score a pair.

Lafayette added a third run in the next inning, when AJ Kloehn was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a single to right-center by Hudson.

The Keydets (5-3) made it 8-3 on a solo homer from Jacob Jaye in the seventh, and the Leopards could only add single tallies in the eighth and ninth innings.

Winning pitcher Josh Winder fanned seven without allowing a walk over seven innings of work, while Lafayette's John Cain took the loss after surrendering seven runs (four earned) over 2 1/3 innings.

Landolfi completed a strong weekend from the bottom of the lineup by going 1-for-3 with a walk this afternoon. He went 4-for-10 with that one free pass across the three-game slate.

The Leopards will look to get into the win column against Rider on Tuesday afternoon. That game, which will take place at Diamond Nation in Flemington, N.J., is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.