NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Lasell College baseball team scored 15 runs on 21 hits Friday afternoon to sweep a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) baseball doubleheader from Norwich University, spoiling the Cadets' home opener at Garrity Field.
The Lasers took the opener 10-4, and won the nightcap in eight innings, 5-3. Lasell improves to 19-13 overall and 8-6 in the GNAC, while Norwich drops to 5-18 overall and 3-9 in conference play.
Senior Andre Marchesseault (Cheshire, Conn.) and junior Joe Sullivan (East Sandwich, Mass.) led the hit parade for the Lasers. Marchesseault had five hits, including two doubles and a home run, driving in five, while Sullivan had four hits, including a double and a home run. Freshman Matt Bischof (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) also homered for the Lasers in the opener.
Lasell's GNAC twin bill on Saturday, April 20, at Albertus Magnus College, had been postponed, so the Lasers will be back in action on Monday, April 22, with a non-conference home game against Eastern Nazarene College (7 p.m.). Norwich is next in action on Monday, April 22 for a non-conference doubleheader at Northern Vermont University-Lyndon. Those games are set for 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Game 1 – Lasell 10, Norwich 4
Lasell broke open a scoreless tie with three runs in the top of the third inning as Bischof hit a solo home run, senior David Marsell (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) had an RBI single and Marchesseault cracked an RBI double to left field. Norwich got one back in the bottom half of the inning as sophomore Jacob Parizo (Groton, Conn.) lined an RBI single to center field.
The Lasers put up three more runs in the fourth inning. Sophomore Wyatt Sihvonen (Lebanon, Conn.) belted an RBI triple and then scored on a wild pitch, and Marsell added an RBI single. Norwich answered with three of their own in the bottom half of the inning, starting with junior Chris Dayos (Temecula, Calif.) hitting his first-career home run to make it 6-2. Senior Mike Lesco (Somers, Conn.) followed with an RBI single, and junior Brendon Profita (New Milford, Conn.) singled to right, scoring Lesco for a 6-4 score.
Lasell tacked on two runs in the sixth on a Norwich error, and two in the seventh on Sullivan's RBI double and an RBI single by senior Brett Sherron (Howard Beach, N.Y.)
Senior Dan Petr (East Haven, Conn.) earned the win for Lasell, working six innings and allowing three earned runs, striking out four.
Game 2 – Lasell 5, Norwich 3 (8 innings)
Lasell jumped out to an early lead again, holding a 2-0 edge after one inning of play on Marchesseault's two-run single. Norwich rallied for two runs in the bottom of the third on RBI singles by seniors Kevin Lynch (Randolph, Mass.) and Jacob Barlow (Newburyport, Mass.) to tie the game 2-2.
Lynch then delivered another RBI single in the fourth inning for a 3-2 Norwich lead. Lasell managed to tie the game 3-3 in the sixth on an RBI single by Sherron and sent the game to extra innings after a scoreless seventh.
The Lasers scored twice in the top of the eighth on back-to-back home runs by Marchesseault and Sullivan for the 5-3 lead and the Cadets couldn't muster any runs in the bottom of the frame.
Junior Chris O'Connor (Duxbury, Mass.) earned the win (3-1) with four scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit and one walk, striking out five. Junior Zach Handzel (Palmer, Mass.) pitched the first four innings, giving up just two runs on seven hits, fanning two.
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