SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts The American International College Yellow Jackets defeated the Post University Eagles 12-6 thanks to an eight-run seventh inning.
The Yellow Jackets move to 15-26 overall while the Eagles drop to 20-22-1 overall after the non-conference matchup.
Post struck first in the second inning on a sac fly to center field to score a runner from third to make it 1-0. AIC countered in the fourth, as K.J. White walked to start the inning before stealing second base with two out. White advanced to third and finally home on back-to-back wild pitches to tie the game 1-1.
The Yellow Jackets took the lead for a brief moment in the fifth, as Matt Costanza started off with a single to right center field. A fielding error by the third baseman saw Andrew Ciacciareli get on base and reach second, with Costanza moving to third. A ground out by Brendan Carter was all it took to score Costanza, giving AIC a 2-1 lead.
Post, not wanting to be outdone, exploded for five runs in the sixth inning. A ground ball turned into a double played allowed a runner to score from third for the first run. Back-to-back RBI singles out to right field brought two runs in to score. The final two runs were scored on a single to left field, giving the Eagles a 6-2 advantage.
AIC came on strong in the seventh inning, with Eugene Quirk getting on base with one out after being hit by a pitch. Carter followed up with a double to deep left center to put Yellow Jackets on second and third. Josh Aviles singled to the shortstop, putting Carter on third and scoring Quirk to make it a 6-3 game. Aviles stole second before White belted a two RBI single to left field, scoring Carter and Aviles, cutting the Eagles' lead to just one. White, who stole second base, scored on a RBI double swatted down the left field line by Matt Krause to tie match at 6-6. After reaching third on a fly out by Mike Wroth, a passed ball scored Krause to give the Yellow Jackets their first lead since the fifth inning. The fun didn't stop for AIC, as Chris Starcun crushed a double down the left field line and Costanza walked to give AIC two runners on. A two RBI double from Ciacciareli scored Costanza and Starcun to push the Yellow Jacket lead to 9-6. Quirk came out next with another double to score Ciacciareli for the final run of the inning, giving AIC a 10-6 lead when the dust finally settled.
Not wanting the fire to go out, AIC scored two more in the eighth inning, with White starting things off with a single to left field with one out. The Yellow Jackets got runners on first and third after White stole second and advanced to third and Krause took a five-pitch walk. Wroth made it 11-6 with a RBI single down the right field line, scoring White and moving Krause to third. The final run of the game came on a RBI single past the second baseman from Starcun to make it 12-6.
Dean Striech went 2.2 innings to start the game for the Yellow Jackets, allowing just one run on no hits and five walks. Brendan LaVallee came in to pitch the next three innings, giving up seven hits, five runs, one walks and two strikeouts. Ryan Bruning dealt the final 3.1 innings of action as he picked up his second win of the year, improving to 2-4 overall. Bruning allowed no hit, runs or walks as he struck out four.
The Yellow Jackets finish up their season with a three game home stand against the Chargers from the University of New Haven on Saturday, May 6 at 2 p.m. and Sunday, May 7 for a doubleheader at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.
