MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College baseball team came out on top of a 16-13 slugfest against Lesley University on Thursday afternoon in non-conference action.
The two sides combined for a total of 32 hits in the contest. Eight of nine starters finished with a hit for the Colonels (9-14-1 overall) led by three apiece for senior Michael Strizzi (Williamstown, Mass.), sophomore Garrett Fosher (Exeter, N.H.), and junior Adam Duarte (East Providence, R.I.). Freshman Jason Leonard (Dedham, Mass.), junior Jared Keller (Oxford, Conn.) and sophomore Dylan Ketterer (Plymouth, Mass.) each had two hits. Duarte finished with a career-high five RBI in the contest.
Freshman Ian Spillane (Chula Vista, Calif.) and senior Jacob Cervantes (Ventura, Calif.) each had three to lead the Lynx (6-17 overall).
Curry came out swinging in the first inning and pushed across four runs to take an early 4-0 lead. Strizzi opened the scoring as he scored on a wild pitch. With two outs, freshman Evan Leveroni (Sandown, N.H.) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, which drove in Leonard. After a pitching change, Duarte singled up the middle to plate Fosher and Ketterer.
The Colonels added to their lead in the second and third frames, scoring one run in each. Keller converted a sacrifice fly to left to score freshman Julian Jaume (Brooklyn, N.Y.) while Duarte doubled to right center, which allowed Leveroni to score to make the score 6-0.
Lesley's bats came alive in the fourth, tallying six runs to tie the game. Junior Javi Martinez (Chelsea, Mass.) started the inning with a two-bagger to left center. Senior Ryan Pumphret (Shrewsbury, Mass.) drove in Martinez with a single through the left side. Cervantes continued the onslaught with a double to center to score sophomore Zach Rossi (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Pumphret. Cervantes would eventually come around to score on a passed ball. Martinez then converted his second double of the inning to bring around sophomores Gabriel Coyne-Martinez (Pittsfield, Mass.) and Michael Fiorelli (Rutland, Mass.).
Curry jumped back in front in the bottom of the fourth by scoring three runs on the same play. Duarte connected on a pitch and singled to left field and then advanced to second on an error by Cervantes. Leveroni scored on the error and was followed by Fosher and Ketterer to pull ahead 9-6.
The Colonels tacked on two more in the fifth. Keller walked and then Strizzi scored on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, Leveroni drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Keller.
The Lynx kept chipping away at the deficit as they scored two more in the sixth on a two-run homer to left center to cut the Curry lead to three, 11-8. The Colonels answered right back in the bottom of the inning on a two-RBI single from Keller, which scored Jaume and freshman Eric Sennott (Odessa, Fla.) to push the lead back to five.
Curry's offense kept on firing and tallied three more in the eighth. Jaume scored on a passed ball, Leonard singled through the right side to plate Strizzi, and Fosher drew a bases-loaded walk to send Leonard home to double up Lesley, 16-8.
The Lynx made one final attempt to regain the lead as they scored five in the top of the ninth. Senior Gage Reycroft (Fort Myers, Fla.) scored on an error by Duarte. Cervantes followed with a single up the middle to plate Rossi. Spillane kept things going with a single to left field to drive in Cervantes. Fiorelli converted a sacrifice fly to center field to plate junior Will Rhone (North Haven, Conn.). The final run would come across as Spillane scored on a wild pitch for the 16-13 final.
Freshman Joe Wallace (North Reading, Mass.) tossed 4.1 innings of relief to earn the win and improved to 1-0 on the season. He gave up seven runs on seven hits while walking one. Senior Daniel O'Donnell, Jr. (Clark, N.J.) lasted 3.0 innings and gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits in the loss.
Curry remains home for a single game against conference opponent Wentworth on Friday, April 12 at 4:00 p.m. Lesley will host league games against Elms College on Saturday, April 13 in a doubleheader starting at 3:00 p.m. The contests will take place at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.
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