Newton, MA - The Lasell College baseball team suffered a non-conference defeat at the hands of Salem State, yielding an 11 run second inning enroute to a 19-2 loss to the Vikings. Salem St. improved to 13-5 on the season, while the loss dropped Lasell to 5-13 overall.
After a scoreless first inning, the Vikings blew the game open in the second inning, rapping out 6 hits and getting some help from the hosts, who committed 5 errors, to score 11 runs in the top half of the inning. The Viking outburst was highlighted by a two-run double by Matt Burgess (Kingston, MA) and a two-run single by Erik Juncker (Rockport, MA) which allowed Salem to send fifteen batters to the plate and open up an 11-0 edge.
Salem tacked on a pair of runs in the third inning and another in the fourth giving them a 14-0 lead after four innings. The Lasers got their first hit of the inning in the bottom half of the fourth when Kyle Fitzsimmons led off with a double, but Lasell was unable to punch a run across.
The Lasers got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, when Matt Sammarco (New Cannan, CT) picked up a two-out single and then scored when David Long (Brookfield, CT) followed with a single that was mishandled, allowing Sammarco to score from first. Lasell then added another run in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a Billy Uberti (Newton, MA) double and an RBI single from Bobby Stachura (Middletown, CT).
Salem responded with 5 runs in the top half of the seventh, to make the final margin 19-2.
Ryan Hyjek (Tolland, CT) earned the win for Salem, going six innings, allowing five hits and 2 runs, one earned, while striking out four. Matti Doxter (Somersworth, NH) took the loss for Lasell.
The Vikings will return to action on Saturday March 31st when the travel to Fitchburg State for a MASCAC doubleheader, while Lasell will open the GNAC schedule on Saturday March 31st with a home twinbill against Norwich University at 12pm.