Box Score

West Harrison, NY (Mar. 21, 2013) – A stellar pitching performance by rookie starter Adam Brant and some timely hitting, including an inside-the-park homerun by Michael Skoller, yielded a 5-1 win over Lehman College at Silver Lake Park Thursday afternoon.

The Panthers improved to 5-5 overall, dropping Lehman, a longtime non-conference rival to 3-3 on the early season. The Lightning, who defeated Purchase last spring, was overmatched by Brant (FR/Hyde Park, NY). Brant sparkled on the hill, tossing eight brilliant innings. He struck out 11 and shutout Lehman over eight innings for the win. Skoller, who smashed an inside-the-park homerun in the fifth inning and doubled in a run earlier in the game, was the hitting star for Purchase. He went 2 for 3 with three RBI at the plate.  

Brant (1-0) was sharp from the outset in his debut as a starter. The young right-hander began the game strong, striking out leadoff hitter Miguel Nunez. Russbert Eugenio followed with a slow roller to first base, but an error allowed him to reach.

But Brant picked up his teammates – literally – and picked off the runner, who was gunned down on the pickoff play by first baseman Daniel Stroud (SR/Nyack, NY), who fired to Josh Spielberg (SR/Oceanside, NY) for a 1-3-6 PO play.

With two outs, three-hole hitter Alberto German doubled down the left-field line, but Brant settled down once again and struck out the cleanup hitter, Alberto German, on another swinging miss.

Utilizing some momentum from the first-half inning, Panther leadoff hitter Michael Sarni (SR/Shelton, CT) tapped a slow roller of his own out to second base and, with his speed, reached on an infield hit. He advanced to second on an error by the pitcher, who tried to pick him off. Standing on second, Sarni would come around to score the game's first run on an RBI double by Skoller (JR/East Meadow, NY).

The lefty-swinging Skoller roped a line drive down the right-field line for a quick 1-0 lead. Skoller advanced to third on a fielder's choice and was plated on a wild pitch by Lehman starter Freddy Parra, who walked Purchase cleanup hitter Ronald Echavarria (SR/Bronx, NY). The wild throw gave Purchase a 2-0 advantage.

Echavarria would swipe second and third, and with two outs, and John Duffy (JR/Staten Island, NY) at first following a two-out walk, Colin Morris (SR/Bridgeport, CT) came to the plate with runners on the corners. But Duffy would get into a pickle between first and second, and when Echavarria tried to score, the Lehman infield cut him down at the plate.

Nonetheless, Purchase took a 2-0 margin into the second inning, where Brant struck out three more – two swinging and one looking – and navigated around a no-out double and a stolen base to lead off the inning. With a runner on third, Brant froze Lehman first baseman Nicholas Morales on a breaking ball to end the threat.   

Although Purchase would load the bases in the third, the two teams traded zeros through the next three frames, with both pitchers finding a groove.

In the top of the fifth, Brant kept rolling and retired the side in order.

The Panthers then went to bat in the bottom of the inning and padded the lead for Brant. Sarni doubled to start the frame, and Skoller followed, driving a nice shot down the right field line, plating Sarni. The third baseman, a first-year Panther, raced around the bases and came all the way around to score as the ball slipped past the right fielder. The two-RBI homer gave Purchase a commanding four-run lead in the single, nine-inning game. 

Purchase tacked on an insurance run in the eighth on an RBI double off the bat of Spielberg, which plated pinch hitter Leo Francisco (JR/Bedford Hills, NY), who doubled to lead off the eighth.    

Reliever Phil Georges (SR/Brooklyn, NY) came on and pitched the ninth, allowing one run, but capped off the win by navigating around some trouble.

Offensively, Sarni, Skoller, Sherman and Echavarria and Spielberg accounted for 10 of the team's 12 hits, with each collecting two apiece.

Lehman (3-3) was paced by German, who notched three of the team's six hits on the afternoon. Starter Parra earned the loss, falling to 1-1 on the spring.

Although always humble and not one to be in the limelight, the victory is No. 99 career wise for Purchase head coach Bill Guerrero, who started the program from scratch in 2003. He will have an opportunity to win No. 100 on Saturday, when the team welcomes SUNY Maritime to Silver Lake for their conference opener.