NEW HAVEN, Conn. (4/30/17) -- The Lasell College baseball team broke out the bats in its final Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader of the season Sunday afternoon, scoring 20-7 and 17-5 victories over the host Albertus Magnus Falcons at Rochford Field.
The Lasers improve to 14-14 on the season and 10-4 in GNAC play with their second road sweep in as many games, while the Falcons fall to 10-20-1 overall and 5-9 in league games.
Lasell clinched the No. 3 seed for GNAC postseason play with Saturday's wins at Norwich, and will face the No. 6 Falcons in a single-elimination, first round contest at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton, Mass., on Tuesday, May 2 at 7:00 p.m.
Game 1: Lasell 20, Albertus Magnus 7
Seven different players recorded the Lasers' 12 hits in the opener, but four went for extra bases en route to setting a season-high with 20 runs. The teams traded five-run frames in the third inning before Lasell scored three times in the fourth and at least three runs in each of the three frames that followed to take the lead for good.
Graduate right fielder Skylar Beckerman (Pensacola, Fla.) led the Lasers with a 3-for-4 showing while scoring a run and driving in one, helping to start the offense in the game's first run-scoring inning. Two batters after senior shortstop Hector Coscione (Newton, Mass.) hit a one-out, two-run home run to left field to open the scoring, Beckerman doubled to right-center field and scored on junior first baseman Dom Mascolo's (Waterbury, Conn.) two-run triple to center.
The Lasers had a 5-0 lead before another out was recorded as sophomore third baseman Andre Marchesseault (Cheshire, Conn.) posted an RBI single, but the Falcons scored five runs of their own in the bottom half of the third.
Lasell posted a three-run fourth as sophomore center fielder Evan Michalek (Berlin, Conn.) singled junior shortstop Jesse Tejero (West Haven, Conn.) home from third base after he walked for the second time in as many innings and then advanced on a balk and a passed ball. Michalek scored on a wild pitch as Coscione drew a one-out walk, while Beckerman launched a triple to right field to score Coscione.
Albertus scored twice in the fourth against sophomore Brian Cohen (Rockland, Mass.) who earned his first collegiate win in relief of senior Frank Zammarelli (Burrillville, R.I.) as he struck out one over 1.2 innings of work. Freshman Patrick Colvin (Lenoxdale, Mass.) and sophomore Brian Lindenmeier (Holtsville, N.Y.) allowed just two combined hits over the final three innings as the Lasell offense knocked home 12 more runs.
The Lasers manufactured their four-run fifth inning on just one hit as Michalek's bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly from senior left fielder Brandon Valentin (Meriden, Conn.) also added two runs to the board. Michalek and Valentin each delivered again with singles in Lasell's five-run, five-hit sixth, while two walks and an error brought runs home in the seventh.
In total, Valentin, Mascolo and Michalek drove in four runs apiece, while Tejero scored five and Michalek touched home three times.
Game 2: Lasell 17, Albertus Magnus 5
After the Lasers set a season-high run total in the opener, they did so in the hit column with 21 in the game that followed. Eleven different players posted hits in the game, with Coscione, Marchesseault, and sophomore David Marsell (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) contributing three apiece. Lasell scored runs in each of the first five innings, holding a 3-2 lead after one before erupting for three in the second, seven in the third, and two each in the fourth and fifth.
Oddly enough, Lasell's only extra-base hits were doubles, but it tied a season-high with seven of them, including two by Coscione. Marchesseault was the lone player with more than two RBI as he drove in four while going 3-for-6 and scoring a run.
In the first, Marchesseault opened the scoring with a one-out single to center before Tejero scored two more Lasers with a knock of his own. After the Falcons tagged starter Marsell for the only two runs and three hits in his three-inning outing, Lasell scored three runs in the second as Mascolo and Marchesseault hit back-to-back doubles.
All seven of Lasell's second-inning runs came with two outs. After Coscione hit a two-run single up the middle to open the scoring, Valentin walked before five straight Lasers knocked run-scoring singles, including sophomore shortstop Greg Camarda (Massapequa, N.Y.) who finished the rally with his third RBI of the season.
Marsell helped his own cause with a two-out single to right in the fourth, four batters after Coscione scored on an error. In the fifth, sophomore first baseman Brett Sherron (Howard Beach, N.Y.) concluded the Lasers' scoring with a two-out, two-run single to left.
On the mound, Marsell earned the win, while freshmen Zach Handzel (Palmer, Mass.) and Mike Tacinelli (Seymour, Conn.) combined to pitch the next three scoreless innings. Albertus scored three runs against Branden Perry (Lenoxdale, Mass.) in the seventh, but only one was earned.