Waltham, Mass. (4/10/13) – The Lasell College baseball team used a strong pitching and timely hitting to defeat Rivier University 4-0 and 5-0 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference twinbill on Wednesday evening. Lasell evened their record at 5-5 in conference action and improved to 9-14 on the season. Rivier slipped to 5-21 overall and 1-7 in league contests.
Game One:
Bobby Stachura (Middletown, Conn.) paced the Lasell offense with a single and a double while driving in two runs. Billy Uberti (Newton, Mass.) and Bobby Ellard (Medfield, Mass.) each drove in a run to aid the Lasers cause. Freshmen pitcher Jake Malone (Harwich, Mass.) tossed a gem for Lasell, throwing a complete game shutout and only allowing two hits while striking out three in seven innings of work.
Jeremy Ball (Swanzey, N.H.) had a pair of singles for Rivier at the plate. Nick Pica (Hampstead, N.H.) took the loss for the Raiders allowing four runs on eight hits through six innings while recording three strikeouts.
Ball singled with one out in the top of the first inning and stole second base but the Rivier threat stalled when John DiBenedetto (Tampa, Fla.) grounded out to third and Ball was gunned down trying to advance to end the inning.
Matt Sammarco (New Canaan, Conn.) reached on a one-out single in the bottom of the second inning, moving to third on a single by Dan Gagnon (Pomfret Center, Conn.). Ellard's sacrifice fly gave the Lasers a 1-0 lead.
Rivier put runners on first and second with two outs courtesy of a pair of walks in the top of the fifth inning, but Malone induced an inning ending groundout to preserve the Lasers one run lead.
In the bottom half of the fifth frame Corey Michel (Rochester, N.H.) walked with one out and after Uberti was retired on a fly out to deep right field he stole second to move into scoring position. Rob Madden singled giving Lasell runners on the corners with two outs and a double by Stachura scored both runners to give the Lasers a 3-0 lead.
After Rivier was retired in order in the top of the sixth, Lasell added an insurance run on the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Uberti.
Malone set the Raiders down in order again in the top of the seventh to give Lasell the 4-0 victory in game one.
Game Two:
Bobby Ellard was 2 for 3 at the dish for Lasell with a double and a pair of RBI's, and Billy Uberti finished with a single and a double while knocking in a run. Eric Howard (Newton, Mass.) went all five innings in the rain shortened affair to earn the win for Lasell, holding the Raiders to three hits while recording five strikeouts without allowing a run.
Mike Scanlon, Bryar King and John DiBenedetto each tallied a single in the contest for Rivier University. Gabe May threw all five innings for Rivier yielding five runs, four earned, on seven hits while fanning six batters in taking the loss.
Dustin Brown (Falmouth, Mass.) walked with one out for the Lasers in the home half of the first inning, and advanced to second on a passed ball. Matt Sammarco plated Brown with a two-out single to put Lasell on the board with a 1-0 edge.
Rivier opened the top of the second with a single by King who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. King then moved up to third on DiBenedetto's single, giving the Raiders runners on the corners with one away. Howard escaped the inning unscathed when he retired the next two hitters on a strikeout and an inning ending groundout.
Ellard led off the bottom half of the second with a double and advanced to third on a groundout by Corey Michel. Ellard came in to score on a bunt by Mozingo, who reached on a throwing error by Rivier to give Lasell a 2-0 lead. Uberti followed with a single putting runners on first and second with one out, but the next two hitters for the Lasers were retired ending the threat.
In the bottom of the fourth inning Mozingo reached on an error with two outs, coming in to score on a double by Uberti to put Lasell in front 3-0.
Lasell scored two more in the bottom half of the fifth when Ellard singled home Stachura and Madden to boost the Lasers lead to 5-0.
The rain which had been falling steadily throughout the game increased after the home half of the fifth, and the umpires called the game giving Lasell the 5-0 victory in the second game.
Rivier will host UMass-Dartmouth in a non-conference matchup on Thursday April 11th at 7:00 p.m. before visiting Johnson and Wales University on Saturday April 13th for a GNAC double dip. Lasell will have a two day break after playing eight games in the last six days before the travel to Norwich University for a GNAC doubleheader against the Cadets.