Baseball Sweeps By Lesley University, 9-4 and 24-10

Box Scores

HOLYOKE, Mass. – Elms College junior left fielder Donald Morse (Alfred, Maine) set the Blazers' individual single-season RBI total with a combined four runs driven in and senior Carm Bonavita (Springfield, Mass.) earned his first collegiate win on the hill in game two to help pace Elms to a doubleheader sweep of Lesley University in Monday's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) day/night twinbill at MacKenzie Stadium in Holyoke, Mass.

Elms won the first game 9-4 and followed with a resounding 24-10 win in the nightcap to improve to 11-15 overall, 4-7 in league play. Lesley falls to 0-19 on the season, 0-9 in NECC action.

Elms 9, Lesley 4 (7 innings)

Holding a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third, Elms struck for five when sophomore center fielder Stephen Fisher (West Boylston, Mass.) drove in senior second baseman Brendan Cordeiro (Berkley, Mass.) on a base hit and later came home to score when junior first baseman Reynaldo Rivera (San Juan, Puerto Rico) crushed a bases-clearing double to center field, lifting the Blazers' lead to 5-0. Rivera then scored on a single to left center by Bonavita to give Elms a 6-0 cushion.

Lesley got a run back in the top of the fourth, but a three-run home half of the frame highlighted by a sacrifice fly by junior shortstop Nicolino Iavicoli (Hampden, Mass.), a run-scoring double by freshman designated hitter Anthony Pagano (Cranston, R.I.) and an RBI single by Morse allowed Elms to establish a 9-1 lead.

Elms' sophomore starter Ryan Burnette (Chicopee, Mass.) tossed all seven innings on the hill and pitched five innings of scoreless baseball highlighted by five strikeouts to earn his first collegiate win and move to 1-2 on the season. Lesley plated three in the top of the sixth on the strength of an RBI double by Andrew Colon (Chelsea, Mass.) and a two-run double by Jeff Landry (Vestal, N.Y.) but Burnette shutdown the Lynx in the top of the final frame to seal the victory.

Lesley starter Nick Dolan (Stafford, N.H.) suffered the loss and falls to 0-2 on the mound this season.

Morse and Fisher finished with two hits each in the game, while Rivera drove in three of Elms' nine runs with one swing.

Elms 24, Lesley 10 (7 innings)

In game two, Lesley stormed out to a 9-4 lead over the first three innings highlighted by a four-run first stanza when the Lynx used three walks and a pair of doubles, including a three-run double by Noah Shaw (Amston, Conn.) and an RBI two-bagger by Aqib Shah (Watertown, Mass.) to stake its early advantage.

Trailing by five in the bottom of the fourth, the Blazers exploded for 10 runs on six hits and four Lesley miscues. Brendan Cordeiro smacked a two-run triple to left center field, Morse drilled a two-run double to right center, Pagano and Fisher each drove in a run on a double, while freshman third baseman Zachary Dreher (Naugatuck, Conn.) added an RBI single to ignite Elms' offensive outburst.

Lesley scored a run in the top of the fifth inning on an RBI base hit by Peter Plansky (Litchfield, N.H.) to pull the Lynx back to within four, but the Blazers scored 10 more runs over the next two innings to post a 24-10 lead. 

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Dreher cleared the sacks with a base hit and raced all the way home thanks to a pair of Lesley errors allowing Elms to score four runs on the play.

An RBI double down the left field line by junior pinch-hitter Sean Shanley (Bristol, Conn.), RBI singles by senior first baseman Hector Roche (Bronx, N.Y.) and freshman right fielder Alex King (Lebanon, Conn.) and a sacrifice fly by Fisher gave Elms six runs in the bottom of the sixth to cap the scoring.

Elms set a single-game record for runs in a game with 24 and tied the single-contest record for hits (19), and doubles (5).

Eight Blazers batters had multiple hit games, including Fisher who recorded three in the winning effort, while Brendan Cordeiro and Morse drove in three runs each.

Bonavita pitched 1.2 innings of relief en route to his victory, while senior southpaws Nick Cordeiro (Berkley, Mass.), junior Andrew Bunger (Southington, Conn.) and freshman Evan Donermeyer (East Longmeadow, Mass.), who capped the effort by striking out the side in the top of the seventh, combined to pitch 2.2 innings of scoreless relief to seal the win.

Lesley starter Ryan Genua (Prospect, Conn.) suffered the loss and falls to 0-5 overall.

Elms will host Framingham State University in midweek non-conference action on Wednesday, April 20. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m. at MacKenzie Stadium in Holyoke, Mass.