Purchase, NY
(March 12, 2016) – Purchase College dropped a pair of games by a combined five runs to Elms College this afternoon in a non-conference baseball doubleheader hosted by the Panthers. The Blazers (11-1) took the opener 2-0 and came from behind in the second game to top the Panthers (2-5) by a score of 5-2.
Elms ran its win streak to 10 games when Stephen Harrison came in to score an unearned run off a Panther error in the top of the fourth inning. A Dan Brunetti sacrifice bunt in the same inning would bring teammate Tim Gelinis in to score the second and final run of the game.
Tom Weldon (2-0) led the Blazers to victory in the opener after five innings on the mound. The senior pitcher allowed only one hit while walking two batters and striking out three.
Purchase tallied only two hits in Game 1. Junior third basemen
Patrick Rucci (Cortlandt Manor, NY) bunted to lead off the fifth inning and junior shortstop
Teofilo Ramirez (Queens, NY) singled to right-center field in the bottom of the seventh.
Junior pitcher
Miguel Reyes (Bronx, NY) was tagged with the loss after pitching a complete game for Purchase in the opener. He gave up two runs (1 earned) off three hits with one walk and two strikeouts. This was Reyes's first loss of the season.
In the second game, senior catcher
Brenden LaPorte (Farmington, CT) put the Panthers on the board in the first inning after a single to center field and a stolen base put him into scoring position. An error by the visiting pitcher Kyle Bartlett advanced LaPorte to third base and a wild pitch brought him in to score, giving Purchase a 1-0 lead to close out the first inning.
Elms tied the game at one in the bottom of the second and took at 2-1 lead in the fifth after an Aedin Wadja double to left field. The Blazers brought their lead to three in the top of the sixth.
Purchase added a final run to the board in the bottom of the sixth but allowed Elms to score another in the seventh to end the game, 5-2 in favor of the visiting Blazers.
Bartlett (1-0) picked up the win for Elms, while junior pitcher
Andrew Fingerhut (0-2) was tagged with the loss for Purchase.
The Panthers return to their home diamond tomorrow for a non-conference doubleheader against the City College of New York starting at 11 a.m.