LANTANA, Fla. – The American International College baseball team survived a three-run eighth inning for Caldwell College to record a 5-4 non-conference victory at the Palm Beach Classic Tuesday to improve to 4-2 for the season. The Cougars fell to 1-6 with the loss.
AIC took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second on back-to-back RBI singles from junior right fielder
Dan Asselin (Chicopee, Mass.) and junior catcher
Dan Fenton (Agawam, Mass.), and stretched its lead to 3-0 when Fenton drew a two-out bases loaded walk in the third. The Yellow Jackets led 5-1 after junior left fielder
Dave Clark (West Springfield, Mass.) tripled to right to plate freshman shortstop
Eddie Ritch (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.) and then scored on sophomore designated hitter
Lucas Vallas' (East Northport, N.Y.) single to right.
Those proved to be two critical runs as Caldwell pushed three across in the bottom of the eighth to make it a one-run game. Junior shortstop Stephen Lucazaj (North Merrick, N.Y.) scored on a sac fly and junior third baseman Thomas Pisano (North Bellmore, N.Y.) drove in sophomore catcher Dominick Mangarella (East Brunswick, N.Y.) two batters later with a bases loaded single to right to cut AIC's lead to 5-3.
Senior
Geoff McCowat (Sterling, Va.) then entered the game and fanned junior right fielder Stephen Dodd (Milford, Pa.) for the second out of the inning before walking Senior designated hitter Anthony Morena (Westbury, N.Y.), which scored senior center fielder Andrew Nunez (East Elmhurst, N.Y.) from third. McCowat then fanned sophomore left fielder Jack Joyce (Bayside, N.Y.) to end the threat and tossed a scoreless ninth to secure the win for the Yellow Jackets.
Vallas finished 2-for-4 on the day with one double, two runs scored and one driven in. Fenton also drove in a pair of runs.
Junior
Cam MacDonald (Weymouth, Mass.) allowed one run on three hits in seven innings to earn the win, while McCowat was earned the save after recording the final five outs of the game. Sophomore Nick Karalekas (Huntington Station, N.Y.) suffered the loss after giving up five runs, four earned in 6.2 innings of work.
AIC will next take on Florida Memorial University Thursday at the Palm Beach Classic.
