WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Lafayette College baseball team dropped both doubleheader games on Sunday, falling in game one 8-6 and falling in game two 14-12 to the Army Black Knights.
 
The Leopards were led in game one by senior Dylan Minghini who went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs, including his seventh home run of the season, and junior Patrick Vandenbergh who went 1-for-2 with one run. Junior Pete Ciuffreda went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI while starting pitcher senior Kyle Subers went 4.1 innings, striking out six,
 
Game two saw Ciuffreda leading the way for the Maroon and White going 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs and freshman Michael Zarrillo who led the team with a team-high three RBIs. Starting pitcher junior Nolan Morr went 3.1 innings.
 
In game one, Army (27-21, 18-8 PL) took an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Minghini's solo home run put Lafayette (15-35, 10-15 PL) on the board in the top of the second to bring the score to 4-1.
 
The Black Knights hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third to put the score to 6-1.
 
The Lafayette Nine added two runs in the top of the fourth, off an RBI double by Willis and an RBI ground out by Zarrillo to cut the Black Knight's lead in half, 6-3, but Army plated another run in the bottom of the inning to pull back in front by four.
 
The home team put the score at 7-3 in the bottom of the fourth but the Leopards pulled within two after an RBI singles by Ciuffreda and Minghini. Both squads then added one more run each to close out game one, 8-6, in favor of the Black Knights.
 
Lafayette took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning in game two before Army exploded for five runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-3 lead.
 
The Leopards retook the lead in the top of the second after freshman Easton Brenner led off the inning with a triple down the right field line. Grech then singled through the left side to bring Brenner home, pulling Lafayette within one. Two batters later Ciuffreda singled and advanced to second on the throw. Freshman Carter Dorighi moved to third to put the tying run in scoring position and then Minghini then hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Grech and tie up the game at five.
 
The Lafayette Nine then broke the tie and took a 7-5 lead in the top of the fourth on back-to-back RBI singles by Dorighi and Ciuffreda. The Black Knights responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take an 8-7 lead heading into the fifth.
 
A two-run home run by Zarrillo put Lafayette back in front 9-8 in the top of the fifth, and then an Army RBI single once again tied up the game, 9-9, heading into the sixth inning.  
 
The Black Knight's retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth after putting five runs across home plate to put the score at 14-9.
 
Coming in to pinch hit for Dorighi, senior Evan Kiah was hit by a pitch to start off the ninth inning for the Leopards. A batter later, Ciuffreda doubled to left field to bring Kiah home and pull Lafayette within four. Minghini then doubled to right field moving Ciuffreda to third.
 
Senior Zach Savage, who came in to pinch hit for freshman Kaleb Willis, then singled to score both runners and pull Lafayette within two, 14-12, with no outs.
 
Zarrillo then singled to put runners on first and second for the Leopards but Army was able to get the final three outs of the game to secure the win.
 
Sunday's games conclude the 2022 season for the Lafayette Nine. The Leopards finished the season with a 15-35 overall record and a 10-15 mark in Patriot League play.