DAVIDSON, N.C. – Junior Bode Grieve's RBI-double to left center field broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning and pushed the Leopards out in front of Davidson, 4-3. Lafayette did not relinquish the lead, defeating the Wildcats 7-6 on Friday at Wilson Field.

Davidson opened the scoring in the second with a solo home run to left field by Cider Canon. Jamie Daly followed with another solo home run in the third, to extend the Wildcats' lead to 2-0.

In the fourth, with runners on second and third, Grieve collected his first of three hits on the day, ripping an RBI-single to right field that scored senior Michael Zarrillo. The next batter, freshman Alex Barrist, tied the game, 2-2, driving in freshman Jack Mislan on an RBI-bunt single. Junior Ryan Ulisse gave the Leopards the lead on an RBI-groundout, making the score 3-2.

Davidson struck back in the bottom of the fifth, as Daly hit his second home run of the game, knotting up the score 3-3.

In the sixth, Zarrillo hit an infield single to second base and proceeded to steal second. Grieve laced an RBI-double to left center field, past the diving reach of the Wildcats' left fielder, Forrest Lietz, to give Lafayette a 4-3 lead. Barrist followed with his second hit of the night, a RBI-single up the middle that extended the Lafayette lead to 5-3.

In the bottom of the sixth, Jack Cotrone got a run back for Davidson on a solo home run, making the tally 5-4.

The Leopards added insurance runs in the seventh. Junior Ethan Swidler doubled down the right field line and was followed by Zarrillo, who singled to center field, putting runners on the corners for Mislan. Mislan slashed a two-run double and increased the Lafayette lead to 7-4.

The eighth saw Daly once again drive in another run for the Wildcats, this time on an RBI-double down the right field line, cutting the Lafayette lead to 7-5.

Davison scored a run in the ninth on an RBI-single to the right side by Cotrone, but Lafayette sophomore Ben Waterman slammed the door shut on a Davidson comeback, stranding runners on first and second and securing a 7-6 Lafayette win.

Sophomore Tristan Helmick earned the win for the Leopards, tossing 0.2 innings, giving  up one hit and one run. Waterman earned his first collegiate save for Lafayette, pitching 2.0 innings, giving up three hits, two runs and recording two strikeouts. Lafayette starter Joe Skapinetz struck out nine batters over 4.2 innings of work, giving up seven hits and three runs. Wilson Perkins took the loss for the Wildcats, giving up 11 hits and seven runs over 6.1 innings of work, while recording four strikeouts.

The Leopards return to action on Saturday for the second game of their three-game series with Davidson at 1:30 p.m.