HAVERHILL, Mass. Junior Tyler Geffert (Hopedale, Mass.) went 4-for-5 with a triple and a pair of runs batted in, but it was not enough as Saint Anselm came from behind to score three in the ninth and defeat American International, 5-4, in non-conference baseball action this afternoon from Trinity Stadium.
AIC (3-7) started their offense early as they collected one run in each of the first two innings as back-to-back infield singles by graduate student Dave Clark (W. Springfield, Mass.) and Geffert followed by a hit batsman loaded the bases with no outs in the first.
Freshman Chris Starcun (Easthampton, Mass.) then drew a one-out walk to force home Clark and give the Jackets the 1-0 edge.
The Hawks (4-10) responded in the top of the second to tie the contest scoring an unearned tally on an RBI single from freshman John Marculitis (Shrewsbury, Mass.) for the 1-1 score.
American international grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the frame as Geffert singled home junior Brett Bohl (Ludlow, Mass.) who walked to start the inning for the 2-1 advantage.
The Jackets then added to their lead in the bottom half of the fourth thanks to three straight extra base hits plated a pair in the inning. Clark doubled to left and scored on Geffert's triple to left center before senior Lucas Vallas (East Northport, N.Y.) knocked him home with a double of his own for the 4-1 lead.
Saint Anselm tighten the gap in the seventh taking advantage of the Jacket bullpen as freshman Shaine Carpenter (Florham Park, N.J.) raced around the bases for a one-out inside the park home run to left center cutting the deficit to 4-2.
Then in the ninth inning the Hawks struck fast for three runs with two-outs as sophomore Matt Flynn (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) laced a run-producing single to right field and junior Ken Morisino (East Longmeadow, Mass.) plated a pair with his base-knock to left for the 5-4 score.
Junior right-hander Tyler Buck (Franklin, Mass.) sat down the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to complete his two scoreless innings of relief and pick up the victory and improve to 2-1 on the season.
Jacket Junior Derek Azzopardi (Redwood City, Calif.) was dealt the loss after failing to earn the save and saw his record fall to 0-2 after allowing three earned runs on three hits over one inning of work.
Junior Harrison Paige (Springfield, Mass.) didn't factor into the decision after tossing the first six innings only allowing one unearned run on two hits with six strikeouts.
Clark joined Geffert with multiple hits on the afternoon as he turned in a 2-for-5 performance as AIC outhit the Hawks 9-7 for the game.
The Jackets return to action on Wednesday as they open conference play when they travel to the College of Saint Rose for a 3:30 p.m. contest.
