
Serce does it all, leads Baseball to split at Holy Family
UPPER CHICHESTER, Pennsylvania - Nick Serce threw 5.1 innings of three-hit ball and drove in a run as the American International College baseball team split with Holy Family University, winning 3-2 and falling 14-0 in a pair of seven-inning games on Wednesday, April 2.
AIC is now 11-11 overall and remains 5-2 in Northeast-10 Conference play.
Serce did not allow a hit until the fifth inning, and AIC needed that level of performance as the Yellow Jackets did not score until that frame. With one out, Brendan Edvardsen was hit by a pitch, and promptly swiped second. After a strikeout, Leandro Guevara came to the dish and bounced to short, but the first baseman muffed the throw, allowing Guevara to reach and Edvardsen to score. The catcher then compounded the cost of the mistake by stealing second himself, and Serce smacked a single to center to bring him in.
The Tigers finally snagged two hits off of Serce, and loaded the bases with two outs after a walk, but Serce settled in and struck out the next batter to end the threat.
In the sixth, the Yellow Jackets added a run, as Josh Frometa greeted a reliever by taking him deep to lead the inning off. That proved critical, as the Tigers scored twice in the bottom of the sixth. They threatened for more, putting runners at the corners with one out, but a bouncer to third was handled by Frometa and he fired home for the second out, and Romel Roca picked a runner off at second to end the frame.
Anderson Cuello Batista took the bump for the seventh, and the AIC closer did his job well, sitting the side down in order to preserve the win.
In total, Serce threw 5.1 innings, with three hits, two runs, and six strikeouts to grab the win.
The Tigers were able to rebound in game two; they took a 3-0 lead in the third and added a run in the fourth before erupting for a 10-run sixth frame to win 14-0.
AIC returns to NE10 action on Friday, April 4 with a doubleheader at Pace University; the first game is set for a 2:00 p.m. first pitch.