EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette baseball team split a doubleheader with Bucknell on Saturday at Hilton Rahn '51 Field at Kamine Stadium. In two back-and-forth contests, the Leopards dropped game one, 8-5, and won game two, 8-7.
In the series opener, Lafayette started the scoring in the first, when senior Pete Ciuffreda doubled down the right field line and was followed by sophomore Michael Zarrillo who hit an RBI-double to left center field, giving the Leopards a 1-0 lead.
Bucknell tied the game in the second on an RBI-groundout by Jake Wortman. In the third, the Bison took a 4-1 lead on a two-run double by Sean Keys and an RBI-double Billy Kendar.
Lafayette responded in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Patrick Vandenbergh singled and advanced to second on a throwing error. Junior Justin Grech walked and junior Blaze Fadio lined a two-run triple to right center field. The next batter, sophomore Easton Brenner, tied the game 4-4 on an RBI-double down the left field line that scored Fadio. Ciuffreda singled to shortstop and Brenner advanced to third on a wild pitch. Zarrillo ripped an RBI-single to center field, giving Lafayette a 5-4 lead.
Bucknell took the lead back in the seventh, scoring on a three-run double by Keys and an RBI-single by Tyler Dunn. Bucknell held on for an 8-5 final.
Chris DiFore collected the win and Ryan Osinsky earned the save. Freshman James Reese took the loss.
Game two began with Lafayette again scoring in the first when Zarrillo blasted a solo home run to left field.
Bucknell responded in the third and fourth with three RBI-singles to lead 3-1.
Lafayette's offense came alive in the fifth, scoring three runs on the 10th home run of the year by Ciuffreda and Zarrillo's second home run of the game, giving the Leopards a 4-3 lead.
In the top of the sixth, Bucknell tied the game at 4-4 on an RBI-triple by Anthony Sherwin. As the game moved to the eighth, the Bison took the lead on RBI-singles by Sherwin and Corson, making the score 6-4.
Lafayette wasted no time responding, as Zarrillo walked to lead off the bottom half of the eighth and then senior Seif Ingram belted a two-run home run to left field, to tie the game 6-6.
Nine innings were not enough to determine a winner. The score remained tied to the top of the 12th, when Bucknell had the bases loaded. Grant Voytovich slapped an RBI-single to left field to give the Bison a 7-6 lead.
In the bottom of the 12th, Zarrillo hit an infield single and later in the inning, Vandenbergh walked, which brought senior Michael Mallas to the plate. Mallas blasted a walk-off, two-run double to left center field that scored Vandenbergh and Zarrillo, giving Lafayette the 8-7 win.
Adam Bogosian earned his second win of the season for the Leopards, pitching three innings, giving up four hits, one run and striking out three. Theo Farynick took the loss for the Bison, pitching 4.2 innings while giving up two runs.
Lafayette is next in action on Sunday at noon when its closes out the three-game series with Bucknell.
