EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette College baseball team split its doubleheader with first place Army West Point on Saturday. Army took the first game 5-3 in extra innings and Lafayette earned the 8-4 game two victory.
 
The Leopards were led in game one by junior Pete Ciuffreda who went 3-for-3 with one run, junior Seif Ingram who went 3-for-4 with one run and freshman Kaleb Willis who went 1-for-4 with his second career home run. Starting pitcher sophomore Luke Benneche went six innings striking out five. 
 
The Lafayette Nine was led in game two by senior Dylan Minghini who went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, and Ciuffreda who went 1-for-3 with one run and two RBIs. Starting pitcher junior Jake Bloss went six innings, striking out seven batters. 
 
Army (16-17, 9-4) scored first in game one of the doubleheader, bringing in the first run of the day  in the top of the second.
 
Lafayette (12-15, 7-6 PL) answered in the bottom of the fourth off an RBI sacrifice fly by sophomore Justin Grech to score Ciuffreda. The Leopards then added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth off a two-run home run by Willis to put the score at 3-1.
 
The Black Knights tied-up the game  3-3 in the top of the seventh, and the Leopards could not plate any runs in the bottom of the inning, sending the game into extra innings. 
 
Army took the lead in the top of the ninth off an RBI double and then added to its lead with an RBI sacrifice fly to take a two-run lead. Ingram singled with one out in the bottom of the ninth, and Willis walked to put runners on first and second, but a fly out ended the game and gave Army the game one win.
 
After the Leopards started off game two with a two-run home run by Minghini to take an early 2-0 lead, the Black Knights responded with two runs of their own to send the game into the third inning tied.
 
Lafayette exploded in the bottom of the third for six runs. Ciuffreda led off the inning by reaching first after being hit by a pitch. He then advanced to third on a single to center field by Minghini. Grech was then hit by a pitch to move Minghini to second and load the bases for Dorighi. Dorighi singled to score Ciuffreda and advance both runners to give Lafayette a 3-2 lead.
 
All runners than advanced on a throwing error by the Black Knight's pitcher, scoring Minghini to give Lafayette a 4-2 lead. Ingram grounded out the third basemen but it was enough to score Grech and give Lafayette a three-run lead. 
 
Junior Kyle Chmielewski then hit an RBI single to left field to score Dorighi. Two batters later, freshman Easton Brenner walked to load the bases for Ciuffreda who hit an RBI single to right field scoring two Leopards to give Lafayette an 8-2 lead heading into the fourth inning.
 
The Black Knights added one run in the top of the fifth and one in the top of the sixth to put the score at 8-4. Neither team could plate a run in the final three innings as the Leopards secured the game two, 8-4, victory.
 
The Leopards and Black Knights face-off Sunday for the final game of the three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.