Box Score

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Lafayette faced a tall task on Sunday afternoon, facing off against a Gardner-Webb squad which entered with a perfect 16-0 record on its home field and an 18-3 mark overall.

The Leopards were up to the challenge.

AJ Kloehn came through with a two-run go-ahead double with two outs in the seventh inning, and David Giusti shutdown the high-flying Runnin' Bulldogs with 3 1/3 hitless innings in relief to lead the Maroon and White to a hard-fought 7-6 victory.

Giusti improved his season record to 2-0 with his sterling performance out of the bullpen, while Alex Woinski and Jackson Kramer each registered three hits to pace the Lafayette offense. The Leopards (4-8) improved to 2-0 on their Spring Break trip. Gardner-Webb (18-4) dropped its second-consecutive contest.

The lead changed hands five times in a back-and-forth affair this afternoon. Woinski crossed the plate on a passed ball in the second inning to open up the scoring for the visitors, and Kramer delivered a delivered a two-out single up the middle on the seventh pitch of his at-bat against home starter Peyton McGuire to add an insurance tally for the Maroon and White.

A leadoff homer in the bottom of the frame got the home side on the scoreboard. After Lafayette restored its two-run edge on an RBI single from Steven Cohen in the following half-inning, the Bulldogs grabbed their first lead with three runs in the bottom of the third off of starter Mitch Leeds.

The Leopards pulled even at 4-4 in the fourth, and they made it four-straight scoring innings in the next frame, with Woinski plating Cohen on a RBI double down the left field line.

Pinch-hitter Eric Jones chased Leeds with a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth. That gave Gardner-Webb a 6-5 lead, but the advantage did not last long. Lafayette's seventh-inning rally started after Campbell Lipe reached on a fielding error, and he made it to third base on a double from Woinski.

With Andrew Landolfi batting, Lipe was gunned down at home on a fielder's choice for the second out. Kloehn, though, who stepped up to the plate hitless in three at-bats, made his fourth trip count, drilling the first pitch he saw to center field for a double which scored two.

Giusti, who came on to record the final out in the bottom of the sixth, was nearly flawless in the last three innings. The freshman right-hander surrendered only a two-out walk in the seventh before going on to retire the final seven batters in order. He sealed the victory with a five-pitch ninth inning, inducing a lazy fly ball to right for the game's final out.

The Leopards, who have won back-to-back games for the first time this season, snapped an 18-game home winning streak for the Bulldogs. Lafayette will look to make it three in a row tomorrow night, when the Maroon and White heads back to Spartanburg, S.C., for a 6 p.m. contest against USC-Upstate.

Notes:

Michael Coniglio picked up Lafayette's lone stolen base, registering his third swipe in four games and improving to a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts.

Kramer totaled three hits for the fourth time in his collegiate career, while Woinski tallied his third three-hit performance during his time on College Hill.

Lafayette failed to commit an error in the field for the fourth time this season.