Franklin, Mass. – The Lasell University Lasers baseball team swept a conference doubleheader against the Dean College Bulldogs, 17-2 and 14-9, Sunday at Longley Athletic Complex.
The highlight for the Lasers was the game one performance which was led by a grand slam off the bat of junior Matt Bischof (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.). Bischof helped lead the Lasers to a record tying 17 runs equaling a feat accomplished by the 2009 team against Rivier College. Game two saw the Lasers tie the school record for hits held by the 2011 team when they played Lesley University.
The Lasers improve to 7-15 on the year and 6-4 in the GNAC while Dean moves to 3-3 on the year and 3-3 in the GNAC.
Lasell is back in action on Wednesday April 21, when they take on Dean again in a conference game with, the first pitch scheduled for 3:30 P.M.
Game 1 – Lasell 17 Dean 2
Graduate student Joe Sullivan (Sandwich, Mass.) got the scoring started in the first inning when he tripled home a run.
The fourth inning saw the Lasers add four runs on one swing of the bat when Bischof hit a grand slam to right field.
Lasell added two more to their lead in the fifth inning first off, an RBI double by junior Matt Motyka (Vernon, Conn.). The next batter up would bring him home when Sullivan singled home Motyka.
Two wild pitches in the sixth inning helped the Lasers add to their lead, with seniors Harrison Silva (Lowell, Mass.) and Tyrek Robinson (West Hartford, Conn.) scoring. Senior Wyatt Sihvonen (Lebanon, Conn.) brought home one more on a sacrifice fly.
Dean clawed one back in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single by senior Matt Callahan (Attleboro, Mass.).
Lasell opened the game up in the seventh inning scoring seven, with the first coming off the bat of Robinson when he singled home a run. With the bases loaded Sihvonen had a two RBI single to right field bringing home Robinson and Silva. Senior Charlie Danaher got himself an RBI when he singled to center field. Sullivan brought home Sihvonen when he grounded out to the pitcher, and sophomore Ross Audet (Swansea, Mass.) brought Danaher home on a sacrifice fly to cap off the scoring in the inning.
The Bulldogs did not go down quietly adding a second run when junior Daniel Lilja (Lynn, Mass.) scored on a double play.
Junior Ryan Gallagher (Methuen, Mass.) went two for three for the Bulldogs.
Both Danaher and senior Justin Banks (Corona, Calif.) went three for five with Danaher adding an RBI. Silva and Sullivan both had two hits with Sullivan driving home three. Bischof in a pinch-hit appearance and his only at bat brought home four. Freshman Darek Lallo (Warwick, R.I.) got the win for the Lasers striking out five while only allowing one run on four hits.
Game 2 – Lasell 14 Dean 9
Danaher got Lasell started in game two when he doubled home a run. Danaher later came around to score on a double play to give the Lasers a two-run lead in the first.
Dean answered in the bottom of the inning by doubling their run total from game one. Senior Brian Hadden (Newburyport, Mass.) got the Bulldogs on the board with a double to right field. Gallagher tied the game when he singled home Hadden. Senior Landon Fish (New Port Richey, Fla.) grounded out but brought home Gallagher to give Dean the lead. Lilja capped the scoring for the Bulldogs when he tripled to left field bringing home a run.
Sihvonen answered back for the Lasers in the second inning on a single up the middle cutting the Bulldog lead to one.
The Lasers bats caught fire in the third inning starting off with Audet singling home Sullivan to tie the game at four. Silva gave the Lasers back the lead when he tripled home Banks. Freshman Bryan Baumann (Deerfield, Mass.) hit a two RBI double bringing home both Robinson and Silva. Sihvonven singled home Baumann and then Danaher homered to left field to add two more giving Lasell a six-run lead.
Gallagher had an answer for the Bulldogs in the bottom half of the inning when he brought home Hadden on a ground out.
Dean added two more runs in the fourth inning, first when junior Tommy Troy Jr. (Norwalk, Conn.) hit a sacrifice fly. Callahan added the second run for the Bulldogs when he had an RBI single to right field.
After a scoreless fifth inning Sullivan added more runs to the Lasers total in the sixth when he hit a two RBI homerun to center. A third run of the inning came in off the bat of Silva when he singled home Audet.
Callahan and Hadden brought home a few more runs for Dean with a sacrifice fly by Callahan and an RBI double for Hadden.
Lasell scored the final run of the game on an RBI single off the bat of Audet to bring home Motyka.
For Dean Hadden went three for four with two RBIs and Lilja added three hits as well. Callahan added two hits along with two RBIs and Gallagher had two RBIs as well.
Silva led the Lasers going four for four at the plate while adding two RBIs. Sihvonen and Audet both had three hits apiece. Danaher, Motyka, Sullivan and Baumann all had two hits, while Danaher had three RBIs and Sullivan and Baumann both had two. Sophomore Jay Giangrande (Andover, Mass.) gets his first win of his college career in relief