Box Score - Game 1; Box Score - Game 2

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Saint Rose swept a doubleheader against the American International College baseball team Saturday afternoon, winning game-one 10-1 and game-two 7-3. The Golden Knights improved to 9-20 on the season and 7-7 in the Northeast-10, while the Yellow Jackets dropped to 7-18 overall and 5-9 in conference play. Senior Jeff Rustico (Southington, Conn.) went 3 for 4 with a run scored in game two.

Saint Rose took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as sophomore Ryan Price (Binghamton, N.Y.) was hit by graduate student Brett Cooley's (Somers, Conn.) first pitch of the game and later scored on a single from sophomore Jake Perez (North East, Pa.). The Golden Knights led 3-0 in the third after freshman Nick Polsinelli (Schenectady, N.Y.) delivered a two-RBI double to right center field and that was all the offense they would need as junior Nick Demidio (Scotia, N.Y.) held AIC scoreless through seven innings.

The Yellow Jackets ended Demidio's shutout bid in the bottom of the eighth when senior Jason Rustico (Southington, Conn.) scored on an error by Perez in right field to pull within 4-1 with just one out in the inning. AIC later loaded the bases in the eighth, but DeMidio got freshman Kyle McNiff (Westford, Mass.) to ground out to third to end the threat.

Saint Rose's offense then exploded for six runs on five hits in the ninth to put the game out of reach. Dimidio improved to 3-3 after allowing one run on six hits with four Ks in eight innings, while Cooley dropped to 2-4 after allowing three runs on six hits in seven innings of work.

The Yellow Jackets took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third in game-two when freshman Dan Mooney (Bennington, Vt.) singled to center field with two outs and the bases loaded, scoring Jeff Rustico and junior Kevin Farrell (Wilbraham, Mass.).

AIC led 2-1 with two outs in the top of the seventh when senior Uchon Yi (Windsor Locks, Conn.) mishandled fellow senior Casey Deuel's (Queensbury, N.Y.) grounder to the right of the mound. That error led the four unearned runs on four hits as the Golden Knight took the lead for good at 5-2.

The Yellow Jackets got one run back in the bottom half of the inning on freshman Dillon Fontaine's (Amenia, N.Y.) sacrifice fly to center field, but Saint Rose answered with a run in the eighth and ninth innings for the 7-3 final.

Junior Jeremiah St. Louis (Tupper Lake, N.Y.) scattered six hits and six walks with five strikeouts in six innings to get the win and improve to 3-5 for the Golden Knights, while Yi took the loss after allowing six runs, one earned, through seven-plus innings.

AIC and Saint Rose will meet again Sunday when they play a single game in Albany at 1 p.m.