SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts -A complete-game effort with no earned runs from redshirt senior pitcher Jason Coscio helped the American International College baseball team bounce back for a doubleheader split against Pace University on Saturday, April 14.

FAST FACTS:
Game One:
Final score: AIC 0, Pace 9
Winning pitcher: Ryan Aquino, Pace (3-1). Losing pitcher: Joe Pepe, AIC (3-3).

Game Two:
Final score: AIC 4, Pace 1
Winning pitcher: Jason Coscio, AIC (2-5). Losing pitcher: Thomas Ippolito, Pace (2-2).

Records: AIC moves to 14-19 overall and 5-11 in Northeast-10 Conference play; Pace is now 14-10-1 overall and 8-6 in the NE10.
Location: Bedard Field

STATS LEADERS:
Game One:
AIC:
Matt Krause (1-for-4)
Matt Costanza (1-for-4)
Brendan Carter (1-for-2)
Zac Brittain (6.2 innings pitched, five hits, four earned runs, five strikeouts)

Pace:
Matt Almonte (5-for-5, three RBI)
Michael Salmonese (3-for-5, three runs scored, three stolen bases)
Ryan Aquino (9.0 innings pitched, three hits, no earned runs, 10 strikeouts)

Game Two:
AIC:
Jason Coscio (9.0 innings pitched, five hits, no earned runs, three strikeouts)
Matt Costanza (2-for-4, one RBI)
Josh Aviles (1-for-4, one double, one RBI)
Brendan Carter (1-for-2, two runs scored, one triple)

Pace:
Felix Camacho (2-for-4, one RBI)
Michael Salmonese (1-for-4, one double)

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Game One:

• Pace put a pair of runs on the board in the first inning and added three more in the top of the third to take a 5-0 lead.
• With freshman pitcher Zac Brittain taking over in the third inning, the righty lasted 6.2 solid innings in relief, allowing just five hits and four earned runs down the stretch with five strikeouts.
• AIC's best opportunity came in the bottom of the third inning, when freshman second baseman Angel Mendez led off the frame with a walk, and sophomore designated hitter Matt Costanza and sophomore right fielder Matt Krause hit back-to-back singles to load the bases. However, AIC could not send a runner home, and could get past a complete-game, 10-strikeout effort from Pace starter Ryan Aquino, who allowed just three total hits in the 9-0 final.

Game Two:

• Neither team earned a hit until the bottom of the third inning, when junior shortstop Brendan Carter hit a triple to right field. He later scored on a groundout to put AIC up 1-0.
• AIC added two more runs in the fifth inning to go up 3-0. Carter got thing started with a walk, and junior center fielder Josh Aviles moved him over to third with a double. Costanza sent Carter home with an RBI single, and Aviles scored later on a fielder's choice to extend the Yellow Jackets' lead.
• Redshirt junior second baseman Trent Dillon had an RBI in the sixth inning to put AIC up 4-0, scoring sophomore third baseman Brendan LaVallee.
• Coscio kept Pace under control the entire game; the Setters attempted a rally in the top of the ninth, loading the bases with no outs after a single, fielding error and walk. Coscio got the first out on a shallow fly, but one run scored on a fielder's choice. But 4-1 was as close as the Setters would get, as Coscio rang up Pace's final batter with a swinging strikeout.

BUZZWORTHY:

• This was the first complete nine-inning game of Coscio's career.
• Carter matched a team-high for 2018 with his third triple of the season. As a team, AIC has hit 12 triples - the most it has had in a single season since 2012, when the team also hit 12.
• Carter and Costanza are now both on a three-game hitting streak, with both notching at least one hit in each game of the series against Pace.

COACH'S CORNER:

• "It was huge," said AIC baseball coach Nick Callini on Coscio's performance. "Actually heading into that game, just trying to piece it together - Jason, we really felt like we knew he'd give us five innings, and you just don't know where the pitch count is going to be at that point. He's been a reliever for us, he's done a great job in his last five or six outings, and we were confident with that. I don't know if we ever expected him to throw a complete gameit was huge."
• "Both the first two games of the series, we lost our starting pitcher in the second or third inning," Callini said, noting injuries to his pitching staff. "We had two great bullpen performances by [sophomore pitcher James] Flahive yesterday and Brittain today. They gave us a chance to get back into the game, and offensively we struggled a little bit. We were beat up a bit, and it's something where you talk to them about it's the situation we're in, and we can't change it, but we want you to compete and play 27 outs, and this is why we do itevery time we go out there, this team just continues to compete, and we did. It started with Jason, and our at bats got better in that second game, and we were able to make things happen and get the clutch hits."

PLAYER'S CORNER:

• "It was pretty important," Coscio said. "For me to go out there and pitch nine innings was pretty huge for usIt saved some guys and gave some guys more rest for a couple more guys coming into Wednesday and Thursday and our next couple gamesI think just spotting up my fastball, that was my big thing, I located my fastball pretty well on the inside part of the plate. I was able to get a lot of flyouts on the righties to left field and center fieldthen after that, just locating my curveballthat was probably the biggest thing for me today, just spotting up my pitches pretty well."

NEXT UP:

• AIC next takes to Bedard Field on Wednesday, April 18, with a matchup set against Franklin Pierce University.
• First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.

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.