SPRINGFIELD, Mass. Junior Chris Starcun (Easthampton, Mass.) reached base four times including blasting his fourth homer of the season, but it was not enough as American International College dropped a, 14-9, decision to The College of Saint Rose in Northeast-10 Southwest Division baseball action this afternoon from Bedard Field.
With the loss AIC has dropped four-straight and fall to 6-16 overall and 0-4 in divisional action while the Golden Knights improve to 5-9 on the year and 1-0 in Southwest division play with the victory.
Saint Rose threatened early taking advantage of multiple Jacket miscues to load the bases with one out in the top of the second, but senior right-hander Colin Sledzik (Higganum, Conn.) induced a shattered bat 5-2-3 double-play to escape the jam.
Starcun then promptly deposited the first pitch of the bottom of the second far beyond the wall in left-center for his fourth homer of the year and the 1-0 edge.
AIC then added to their lead in the bottom of the third scoring twice on a run-producing single through the left side by senior Brett Bohl (Ludlow, Mass.) and an RBI fielder's choice by classmate Karl Kapinos (South Hadley, Mass.) for the 3-0 advantage.
However, the Knights again took advantage of defensive miscues in the top of the fourth and plated six unearned runs highlighted by three straight two-out singles from seniors Derek Reed (Lowell, Mass.) and Nick Venier (Kings Park, N.Y.) and junior Tyler Ungerland (Elmira Heights, N.Y.) for the 6-3 margin.
Saint Rose then opened the game wide open in the seventh with five more runs with the big blow being a three-run triple from Reed for the 11-3 score. The Golden Knights continued to pad their lead scoring a single run in the eighth and grabbing a pair in the ninth on a two-run homer to left center by Ungerland for the 14-3 score.
The Jackets wouldn't go away quietly, however, scoring six times in the bottom of the ninth to account for the final score. Three straight RBI singles were followed up by a bases-loaded three-run triple to deep right centerfield by senior Mike Coyne (El Cajon, Calif.) for the 14-9 final.
Sledzik was the tough luck loser after tossing six innings allowing six runs (zero earned) on eight hits with one walk to fall to 1-3 on the year. Knight senior Nick Cioffi (Averil Park, N.Y.) improved his record to 3-0 allowing three runs on five hits with eight strikeouts over the first six innings.
Starcun finished the day 3-for-4 while sophomore Reed Phillips (East Longmeadow, Mass.), junior K.J. White (Wilbraham, Mass.) and Bohl each collected a pair of hits and a run batted in each.
The visitors outslugged the hosts 14-11 while AIC turned three double plays, but committed five errors to three for Saint Rose.
The Jackets return to the diamond Saturday as their six-game home stand continues with a cross-divisional double-header against Franklin Pierce with game-one starting promptly at 12 p.m.
