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3
St. Michael's STM 0-1
9
Winner American Int'l AIC 1-0
St. Michael's STM
0-1
3
Final
9
American Int'l AIC
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
St. Michael's STM 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 5 1
American Int'l AIC 3 0 4 0 0 2 X 9 11 1

W: Coscio, Jason (1-0) L: Nick Dorcean (0-1)

2
St. Michael's STM 0-2
7
Winner American Int'l AIC 2-0
St. Michael's STM
0-2
2
Final
7
American Int'l AIC
2-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
St. Michael's STM 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 6 1
American Int'l AIC 2 0 1 0 4 0 X 7 6 1

W: Kemlage, Joe (1-0) L: Zach Rodgers (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball sweeps Saint Michael's in season opener

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College baseball team got its season underway with a home doubleheader against Saint Michael's College, cruising to a pair of victories over the Purple Knights on Wednesday, February 28.

FAST FACTS:
Final score: AIC 9, Saint Michael's 3 (Game One/seven innings); AIC 7, Saint Michael's 2 (Game Two/seven innings)
Records: AIC begins the season at 2-0; Saint Michael's starts off the year at 0-2.
Where: Bedard Field

STATS LEADERS:
GAME ONE:
AIC:
St. Michael's:
  • Connor Hopkins (1-for-2, two RBI, one home run)
  • Danté Moran (2-for-3)

GAME TWO:
AIC:
St. Michael's:
  • Danté Moran (1-for-3, double)
  • Anthony Azpeitia (2-for-2, two runs scored)

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Game One:
  • Though Saint Michael's scored a run in the top of the first, AIC wasted no time getting on the board in the bottom half of the inning, when redshirt junior left fielder Reed Phillips singled to bring in sophomore right fielder Matt Krause and sophomore third baseman Matt Costanza. Phillips scored later that inning off a two-out RBI single from freshman catcher Anthony Clark, giving the Yellow Jackets a 3-1 edge after one.
  • AIC added four more runs in the third inning, starting with a triple from Phillips to bring Costanza across home plate. Phillips then scored when sophomore designated hitter Brendan LaVallee reached first on an error from the center fielder; Clark followed with a triple to score LaVallee. Redshirt sophomore first baseman Andrew Ciacciarelli then had a single to bring in LaVallee, pushing the AIC lead to 7-1.
  • Connor Hopkins hit a two-run home run for Saint Michael's in the top of the fourth to bring the Purple Knights within four runs.
  • That would be the closest Saint Michael's would get, however. Redshirt junior Nick Kennedy pitched two hitless innings to close out the game, and Phillips made it a perfect 4-for-4 game with a home run in the sixth that also brought in Krause, extending the AIC lead to 9-3.

GAME TWO:
  • AIC jumped on the board early again - in the first inning, junior shortstop Brendan Carter crossed home when junior center fielder Josh Aviles hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Phillips scored later in the inning on a wild pitch, giving AIC a 2-0 lead after one.
  • Starting his first collegiate game, freshman lefty Joe Kemlage didn't allow any runs until the third, when Joe Robertson had an RBI single for the Purple Knights to cut the AIC advantage in half.
  • Phillips made up for the run in the bottom half of the inning when he had an RBI double to push the Yellow Jackets' lead back to two.
  • The Purple Knights got within 3-2 in the top of the fifth inning, but AIC followed up with four more runs in the bottom of the fifth, off a pair of two-RBI doubles from LaVallee and Ciacciarelli that extended the lead to five.
  • Costanza pitched two clean innings for the Yellow Jackets to preserve the 7-2 win.

BUZZWORTHY:
  • For the second straight year, AIC posted a 2-0 record to begin its season.
  • Additionally, for the second straight season, AIC has started the year with a player hitting a triple and a home run in the same game, as K.J. White had a triple and home run against Mercy College on March 5, 2017.

COACH'S CORNER:
  • "Honestly a lot of things clicked," said AIC baseball coach Nick Callini. "Things we've been working on in practice, things they've worked on in preseason, the effort they've put into it - it's nice to come out on Day One and have all those things come togetherWe just had a lot of guys that came out and came up with clutch two-out or two-strike hits to either give us a lead or expand that lead."
  • "You couldn't have drawn it up any better," Callini added about Kennedy's appearance on the mound - his first since 2016 as the redshirt junior had two strikeouts over the final two innings.

PLAYERS' CORNER:
  • "It just felt good to be outside and finally get to see live pitching," Phillips said. "It was awesome, it's definitely helpful heading down to Florida with two wins."
  • "The atmosphere was great, I loved playing with all the energy," Kemlage said. "It was easy going out and just doing my thing."

NEXT UP:
  • AIC heads south for 11 games in the Sunshine State, starting with a contest on March 9 against Nyack College in Lantana, Florida.

STAY CONNECTED:
  • For more updates about the AIC baseball team, follow @AIC_baseball on Instagram. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow @AICAthletics on Twitter and Instagram, and like AIC Yellow Jackets on Facebook.

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