WORCESTER, Mass. – The Lafayette baseball team was outlasted by Holy Cross 5-4 in a back-and-forth game on Friday at Fitton Field. The Leopards were led by senior Pete Ciuffreda, senior Seif Ingram and sophomore Kaleb Willis, who all had RBI-singles.

Lafayette jumped out to an early lead against the Crusaders in the first inning. Sophomore Easton Brenner singled to right field to lead of the game, and was followed sophomore Michael Zarrillo who doubled to right field, putting runners on second and third. Ciuffreda laced an RBI-single to center field and was then followed by Ingram who ripped another RBI-single to left field, to give the Leopards a 2-0 lead.

The Crusaders' offense got on track in the second and third innings, scoring on a sacrifice fly by C.J. Egrie in the second and a sacrifice fly by Jack Toomey in the third, tying the game at 2-2.

In the fifth, Holy Cross took the lead 4-2, when Brendan Jones lined a two-run single to center field.

Lafayette plated a run in the eighth, as sophomore Ben Petrone reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and then advanced to third on a groundout by junior Bo Planeta. Willis hit an RBI-single to left field which allowed Petrone to score and cut the Holy Cross lead to 4-3.

Ciuffreda opened the ninth inning with a double to right field and was then replaced by a pinch runner, freshman Parker Walsh.  Walsh advanced to third on a fly-out by Ingram. Junior Michael Mallas reached base on a throwing error by the Crusaders' shortstop, which allowed Walsh to score and tied the game 4-4.

Holy Cross won the game in the bottom of the ninth. Jake McElroy and Toomey reached base on a walk and a hit-by pitch, respectively. Connor Cooney sent a ground ball up the middle that hit off the second base bag and dribbled into shallow center field, which allowed McElroy to score from second and gave the Crusaders a 5-4 win.

Augie Walters collected the win, pitching 3.2 innings while giving two runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Freshman James Reese took the loss for the Leopards, pitching a third of an inning while giving up a run on one hit.

Lafayette will continue its series at Holy Cross with a doubleheader on Saturday that is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.