SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College baseball team fell 13-4 and 5-2 to Bentley University in a Northeast 10 Conference doubleheader on Saturday, April 18.
AIC is now 13-24 overall and 9-16 in the NE10.
Bentley jumped out to a four-run lead in the first frame, with five hits including a two-run shot by Stan DeMartinis III. The Falcons added two more in the third with three more hits alongside a failed pickoff; Tommy Goonan drove in the two runs with a single.
AIC broke the shutout in the home half of that inning;
Yeudy Ramirez tripled to center and came home on an AJ Quinn double. However, Bentley struck back in the next half-inning for two on two waks, two groundouts, and two singles.Â
Josh Frometa led off the bottom of the fourth with a bang, clearing the fence for a solo shot. An error, followed by a single and a groundout, set up Ramirez for a sac fly, cutting the gap to 8-3.
Alex Dye drove in another run in the fifth, taking advantage of a bases-loaded situation after
Leandro Guevara and
Cole Patterson singled and Frometa walked.
That was it for AIC's scoring, however, and Bentley tacked on two unearned in the sixth and three in the eighth for the 13-4 final.
Game two was a pitcher's duel; Bentley's Zach Eigenbrod and AIC's
Leo Vitale both struck out two batters in the first, and the game was scoreless until the fifth when the Falcons scored two unearned.Â
In the sixth, however, Bentley's bats woke up; Nick Pappas and Brendan Sencaj each went deep, totaling three runs and a 5-0 Falcons lead.
Eigenbrod quickly grabbed the first two outs in the bottom half, but AIC figured him out there, with Guevara singling up the middle and
Wesley Alfonso walking. Patterson singled to score his catcher, and Frometa followed by hitting a double off the wall. Alfonso scored, but Patterson was thrown out at home to end the inning.Â
AIC loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, as
Sam Tanous led off with a walk, Dye singled, and Ramirez walked. After a strikeout, Guevara worked an eight pitch at-bat, and hammered the last pitch to deep center; unfortunately for AIC it was just short of the miracle grand slam, and was caught at the wall to end the game.
The teams were originally scheduled to play two more on Sunday, April 19, but due to inclement weather will play instead beginning at noon on Monday, April 20.
