PURCHASE, NY – Panther baseball dropped both ends of a non-conference doubleheader to Eastern Connecticut State University on Sunday at the Purchase College diamond.
The visiting Warriors (4-1) took the opener 6-2 and broke open a 1-1 tie with a three-run fifth inning to hand Purchase (3-8) a 4-1 defeat in game two.
Game One: ECSU 6, Purchase 2
Eastern Connecticut sophomore Owen Marica opened up the scoring in the top of the second inning with a two-run double to left field. The Warriors later took a 4-0 lead after batting in two runs on a pair of singles from Luke Broadhurst and Ryan Bagdasarian in the third and fourth innings, respectively.
ECSU sophomore Dean Slavin highlighted the top of the sixth with a homerun to left field. Leading 6-0, the Warriors added an insurance run in the seventh off an Alec Maag RBI double to left-center field.
After six scoreless innings, Purchase broke the ice with two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
James Shea (SO/Brooklyn, NY) led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third on back-to-back wild pitches.
The next at-bats,
Nick Lasala (SR/Massapequa Park, NY) and
Zack Dicanio (JR/Mastic, NY), were walked and with the bases loaded,
Max Vera (SO/Bethpage, NY) singled to drive home the first PC run. Lasala swiped home on a double play to record Purchase's second run before a
Dylan Flynn (JR/Smithtown, NY) groundout to the pitcher concluded the inning.
ECSU's Zach Player (1-0) recorded the in in game one. The Warrior junior put in five innings of work, allowing just two hits while striking out six of the 19 batters he faced. Purchase starter
Nicholas Torres (SR/Cornwall, NY) (1-2) was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on nine hits.
Game Two: ECSU 4, Purchase 1
The latter game of Sunday's twin bill opened with notable pitching from both teams. Eastern starter Jared Buckly recorded four strikeouts, while PC starter
John Fitzgerald (SR/Wantagh, NY) retired eight batters, including one strikeout over the first three innings.
ECSU recorded the first run of the game with a Noah Plantamuro RBI double to right field. Purchase answered back in the bottom half of the inning, scoring on a passed ball to tie the game at one apiece.
In the top of the fifth, Jack Rich led off with a double. The hit forced a Panther pitching change from Purchase skipper
Adam Taraska. Reliever
Michael Laskowski (JR/Floral Park, NY) retired the next Warrior batter but he followed with a wild pitch that allowed Rich to advance to third base. Rich later scored the go-ahead run on a Drew Alexopoulos bunted single.
The visitors produced two more runs in the inning and held Purchase scoreless the rest of the way to secure the doubleheader sweep.
Billy Oldham (2-0) picked up the win for Eastern Connecticut, while Fitzgerald (0-2) was tagged with the loss for Purchase.
Up next
Purchase will return to its diamond next weekend for non-conference doubleheaders against Baruch and John Jay College. Saturday's twin bill against Baruch will be hosted by the Bearcats despite the location.
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