Baseball takes one of three from Adelphi

GARDEN CITY, New York - The American International College baseball team went 1-2 in a Northeast-10 Conference series against Adelphi University on March 29-30, falling 9-8, winning 15-3, and losing 7-5.

AIC is now 8-16 overall and 3-6 in the NE10.

The Panthers opened the series with a bang, leading off the bottom of the first with a home run. 

In the third, AIC's offense took advantage of pitching woes. Kiernan Caffrey walked, Jackson Haker doubled, and Chad Lavelle walked to load the bases. Tyler Ziemak and Shea Cucinotta each walked, pushing both Caffrey and Haker in to give AIC a 2-1 lead. Ryan Lavelle then singled, as did Brendan Edvardsen, scoring one and two runs respectively.

Chad Lavelle then went deep in the fourth, putting AIC up 6-1. However, the Panthers surged back, scoring three in the fourth and four in the fifth to take an 8-6 lead.

In the eighth, AIC tied the game again. Yeudy Ramirez led off with a single and Ryan Lavelle bunted to sacrifice him over, but reached on a throwing error. An RBI groundout by Edvardsen and an RBI single by Josh Frometa brought the duo to the plate. Unfortunately, the Panthers were able to bring the winning run in in the ninth to take the game 9-8.

Game two saw AIC's offense erupt. In the second, Haker led off with a ground-rule double followed by a Chad Lavelle bunt single. Ziemak singled to left to score Haker, and then Ramirez laid down another bunt single, loading the bases. Cucinotta drove a single through the left side to score a pair, and Ryan Lavelle walked to reload the bags. Edvardsen drove another in with a hit, and a Caffrey sacrifice fly capped the five run frame.

The Panthers tried to come back with one in the home half and two in the third, but AIC's fourth inning was just as explosive as its second. Cucinotta, Ryan Lavelle, and Edvardsen all singled, with Frometa and Caffrey hitting a sacrifice fly and a fielder's choice groundout to bring in Cucinotta and Ryan Lavelle, before Chad Lavelle launched his second home run in as many days to add three to AIC's total and make it 10-3.

The rest of the game was AIC's; Cucinotta hit a two-run double in the sixth and the team added three more in the eighth, all unearned, for the 15-3 win.

In the rubber match, the Panthers struck for two in the first. AIC flipped it around with one swing as Haker went deep with two on in the third, and Ryan Lavelle singled in Ramirez in the fourth. However, in the home half of that inning, the Panthers offense hung four on the board to retake a lead they would not relinquish. AIC did score one in the fifth on a Ramirez hit that drove Haker home, but Adelphi hung on to win 7-5 and take the series.

AIC will next face Pace University in a three-game NE10 set at Bedard Field beginning at noon on Saturday, April 6; two games are slated for that day with the finale the following day, also at noon.