WEST POINT N.Y. – The Lafayette baseball team concluded its season in West Point, N.Y., dropping games two and three of the Patriot League Tournament semifinal round to Army, 15-6 and 5-1, on Sunday. Leopard senior
Pete Ciuffreda hit his 13th home run of the season, breaking the school record for home runs in a single season.
In the first game of the day, Lafayette jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second inning when senior
Kyle Chmielewski drew a walk and then sophomore
Ben Petrone lined an RBI l-double to right center field, scoring Chmielewski from first. Later in the inning, junior
Blaze Fadio singled up the middl3"e to score Petrone.
In the third, Lafayette added to its lead on a solo home run by Ciuffreda to right field. The home run was Ciuffreda's 13th of the season, which broke Lafayette's single-season home run record and gave the Leopards a 3-0 lead.
The Black Knights' offense exploded in the fifth, scoring seven runs on a two-run home run by Derek Berg, an RBI-groundout by Ross Friedrick, a three-run home run by Coleson Titus and an RBI-triple by Chris Barr, giving Army the lead, 7-3.
Army added three more runs in the sixth on an RBI-double by Friedrick and a two-run home run by Braden Golinski.
The Leopards responded with a home run to center field in the the top of the seventh by freshman
Ethan Swidler.
The Black Knights countered with a two-run home run to center field in the bottom of the seventh by Sam Ruta, to make the score 12-4.
In the top of the eighth, Lafayette scored another run on a solo home run to left field by junior
Justin Grech.
Army added two more runs in the bottom of the frame, to make the score 15-5.
In the ninth, sophomore
Easton Brenner doubled to left field and Ciuffreda ripped an RBI-single to right field, making the score 15-6, which was the final tally.
Mike Ruggieri earned the win for the Black Knights, pitching 6.0 innings, giving up five hits, four runs and striking out four. Junior
Adam Bogosian took the loss for the Leopards, pitching 0.1 innings, giving up one hit and three runs.
With the victory in game two, Army evened the series 1-1 and forced a third game to decide the series.
Lafayette again struck first in the series finale. Swidler blasted a 1-0 pitch over the left center field fence, to give the Leopards a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
In the bottom the second, Army responded with an RBI-single by Barr that tied the game 1-1. The Black Knights took the lead in the third on a two-run single to left center field by Titus.
In the fifth, Army scored again on an RBI-single to left center field by Ethan Ellis. Golinski scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, which made the final tally 5-1.
Robbie Buecker collected the win for the Black Knights, pitching 7.0 innings, giving up one hit, one run and striking out four. Sophomore
Joe Skapinetz took the loss for the Leopards, pitching 3.0 innings, giving of four hits, three runs and striking out three.
The Leopards have concluded their 2023 campaign, finishing the year with a 15-37 overall record and a 10-15 record in the Patriot League.
