SYRACUSE, N.Y. The American International College baseball team secured their second straight series victory with a doubleheader split against the Le Moyne College Dolphins in Northeast-10 Southwest division action this afternoon from Rockwell Field.
AIC moves to 10-29 on the year and 4-7 in divisional action with their second straight series victory while the Dolphins salvage the final game of the series and move to 21-14 overall and 4-6 in the NE-10 Southwest.
Trailing 4-0 after two innings in game one, the Jackets came back to tie things after grabbing a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Senior Tyler Geffert (Hopedale, Mass.) singled home a run in the fifth while another runner crossed home on a throwing error and sophomore Reed Phillips (Longmeadow, Mass.) ripped an RBI double in the sixth and scampered home on a run-producing groundout by senior Mike Coyne (El Cajon, Calif.) for the 4-4 tie.
Then in the seventh AIC took the lead as Geffert laced a two-run double down the left field line and scored two batters as junior K.J. White (Wilbraham, Mass.) knocked him home for the 7-4 lead.
However, Le Moyne came fighting back to tie the game with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame before taking an 8-7 lead in the eighth on a wild pitch.
The late inning back-and-forth affair continued in the top of the ninth as the Jackets regained the lead as Geffert singled and later scored on a balk to tie the contest and senior Brett Bohl (Ludlow, Mass.) singled through the left side to score White for the 9-8 advantage.
The hosts threatened again in the ninth just as they did yesterday and this time they were able to tie the contest scoring a single run on a throwing error for the 9-9 score sending the game into extra frames.
Neither team was able to get anything going in the tenth, but in the top of the 11th it was junior Chris Starcun (Easthampton, Mass.) singling up the middle before stealing second and moving to third on a fielding error. Sophomore Alex LaFayette (Ludlow, Mass.) then stepped up as a pinch hitter and ripped a single through the left side scoring Starcun for the 10-9 lead.
Coyne trotted to the mound in the 11th after already tossing the eighth inning and picked up his third save of the season while senior Eddie Ritch (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.) earned his first career victory in just his fourth appearance as he tossed two scoreless innings without allowing a hit while striking out a pair to improve to 1-0 on the season.
AIC held the slim 13-12 edge in hits for the opener as Geffert went 3-for-6 and Phillips added a 3-for-5 day while Ritch and senior Karl Kapinos (South Hadley, Mass.) turned two hits apiece.
The second game, however, was all Dolphins early and often as they grabbed a pair of runs in each of the first two innings and complemented that with three runs in the bottom of the fourth off three straight extra-base hits for the 7-0 advantage.
Le Moyne added three more in the bottom of the fifth blowing things wide open with a two-run homer and an RBI double before the Jackets finally got on the board in the sixth as Starcun broke up the no-hit bid with a two-run homer and Coyne ripped a two-run double for the 10-4 deficit.
The Dolphins kept at it, however, and in the bottom half of the frame put up three more runs and each team grabbed a pair in the seventh for the 15-6 Dolphin lead. Starcun and White contributed back-to-back RBI singles to account for AIC's two runs in the seventh.
Sophomore Jason Coscio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) was dealt the loss hurling the first four innings allowing seven runs on seven hits with one walk and a pair of strikeouts to fall to 1-4 on the season.
Starcun and White paced the offense in the finale with a pair of hits each as the Jackets were outhit 16-9 in game two.
AIC returns to action on Wednesday as they travel to Saint Rose to close out their season series with the Golden Knights with a 3:30 p.m. contest.
