DAVIDSON, N.C. – The Lafayette baseball team defeated Davidson on Friday at Wilson Field by a 7-3 score.The victory over Davidson gives Lafayette head coach A.J. Miller '11 his first win as the skipper of the Leopards.

The Leopards were led by senior Pete Ciuffreda who had two hits and two RBIs. Junior Blaze Fadio recorded a hit, drove in a run and scored two more runs. He also drew a pair of walks and reached on a hit by a pitch while managing three stolen bases.

On the mound, freshman Pat Walega made his first collegiate start, pitching 3.0 innings and striking out three. Senior Alex Walsh collected his first collegiate win for the Leopards. Walsh came on in relief OF Walega in the fourth inning and pitched 5.0 innings, only giving up two hits and striking out nine.

"This was a total team effort and everyone contributed to the success tonight", Miller said. "I said to the team after the game, 'this is Lafayette baseball. This is who we are. Let's build off of this'."
 
Lafayette jumped out to an early advantage in the first. Fadio walked to lead off the game and subsequently stole second. Later in the inning, sophomore Ben Petrone drove in Fadio from second with an RBI single. After a single by Ciuffreda, senior Seif Ingram hit a sacrifice fly to left field which scored Petrone from third, giving the Leopards a 2-0 lead.

Davidson responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the first when junior Ryan Wilson hit a sacrifice fly to get the Wildcats on the board.

In the sixth inning, the Lafayette offensive once again came alive. Sophomore Michael Zarrillo singled to left field to lead off the inning and then stole second. Freshman Ethan Swidler drew a walk with one out, and the next batter, junior Justin Grech was hit by a pitch. Fadio followed with a softly hit single that landed on the edge of the outfield grass in right field, and scored Zarrillo from third. Sophomore Easton Brenner hit into a fielder's choice which resulted in another RBI for the Leopards. Petrone then drew a walk, loading the bases again. Ciuffreda slapped a two-run RBI single to left field, extending the Leopards' lead to 6-1.

In the bottom of the eighth, Davidson got a run back when freshman Michael O'Shaughnessy hit a solo home run to right field.

The Leopards responded in the top of the ninth. With one out, Ingram reached base on a bunt single, then stole second and advanced to third on a flyout by Zarrillo. Junior Bo Planeta ripped an RBI single to left field, scoring Ingram from third, and making the score 7-2.

Davidson tacked on another run in the bottom of the ninth when junior Michael Carico hit a solo home run to right field, bringing the final score to 7-3.

Lafayette continues its three-game series with Davidson on Saturday at 2 p.m.