SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-In a fourteen-inning doubleheader that featured as many errors as innings, the American International College baseball team swept Bloomfield in a non-conference doubleheader, winning 7-6 and 3-2.

AIC jumped all over the Deacons in the first game, as sophomore shortstop Eddie Ritch (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.) reached on an error, advanced on a throwing error, advanced again on a wild pitch, and then came in when graduate catcher Dan Fenton (Agawam, Mass.) hit an infield single. After a single and a hit batsman loaded the bases, junior right fielder David Kerlejza (Unionville, Conn.) stroked a double to right to plate two more to give AIC a 3-0 lead.

The Deacons got one back in the second, but AIC had another three-run frame in the third, with Ritch singling to lead off the inning, and then advanced to third via a balk and then a steal; junior designated hitter Lucas Vallas (East Northport, N.Y.) doubled to plate Ritch, and then was driven in by Kerlejza, who in turn was then brought home by sophomore left fielder Tyler Geffert (Hopedale, Mass.).

However, in the sixth, with two outs and the bases loaded, an error cost the Jackets three runs; with Bloomfield already having scored once in the inning that tied the game at 6-6. The Jackets were reeling, but the bats came through, with Geffert doubling to left center and eventually scoring on a an infield single to third by Ritch; from there, junior pitcher Steve Pino (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) finished the seventh, earning the win in relief of sophomore Brian Karp (Bellmore, N.Y.).

In game two, Bloomfield struck in the top of the first and again in the fourth to take a 2-0 lead, but in the fifth, with the bases loaded and one out, junior center fielder Andy Cherico (Rehoboth, Mass.) hit a grounder to short that the fielder could not handle, and then AIC tied it when a wild pitch allowed all runners to advance.

After the Deacons stranded a runner on third in the top of the seventh thanks to a strikeout and a groundout induced by sophomore pitcher Kevin Arduino (Cornwall, N.Y.), the Jackets got each of the first two runners on in the home half of the frame, and brought Kerlejza in to pinch hit; he delivered a single to right to walk off for the season series sweep.

AIC now sits at 11-19 on the year, and will return to action tomorrow when they play at the University of New Haven in a Northeast-10 Southwest Division doubleheader starting at noon in West Haven, Conn.