Lexington, MA - Trailing heading into their final at bat in both ends of today's North Atlantic Conference doubleheader at Lesley University, the Vermont State University Lyndon baseball team staged a pair of late rallies. Unfortunately for the Hornets, both efforts came up short, as the Lynx escaped with a sweep of today's twin bill. Lesley improved to 7-12 on the season and 2-2 in the NAC while Lyndon fell to 6-14 overall and 3-3 in conference.
Game 1 - Lesley 15, VYSU Lyndon 10
The starting pitcher for Lesley, Roy Lenhard had a strong first inning, striking out the side. Pitcher for the Hornets Jack Holly (San Gabriel, CA) also put up a zero at the bottom of the first inning.
Lenhard had another good inning in the second, just allowing one hit by senior third baseman EJ Camden (Corona, CA). Colin McCarthy and Raymond Morales walked to get Lesley going at the bottom of the second. McCarthy ended up scoring on a single by Kevin Dorsey to Lesley in front, 1-0. Dorsey then stole second and Morales scored on the throw to make the score 2-0.
Lenhard had another shut down inning in the third, only allowing one hit to junior outfielder Dalton Berry (Tavares, FL). Colby Jacobs led off the bottom of the inning for Lesley by being hit by pitch. He would steal second and advance to third on a throwing error. Justin Dennett ended up walking and that put two Lesley players on base. Jacobs scored on a single from Christian McElroy to make it 3-0. Dennett and McElroy advanced one base on a passed ball. James Brandon struck out, but reached to first base on a passed ball. Dennett scored and McElroy advanced to third on the play. With one out, Brandon stole second and McElroy scored on the throw to increase the Lesley lead to 5-0. Owen Kalagher singled to right field to bring in Brandon to give Lesley a 6-0 lead.
Freshman shortstop Eyon Tembreull (Vergennes, VT) got the Hornets going with a single to right field with one out in the fourth. Matt Gonyeau (Saint Albans, VT) walked to have two guys on base with one out. Junior designated hitter Ryan Alt (Poultney, VT) singled to bring in Tembreull and get Lynond on the board. Gonyeau and Alt scored on a double by Camden to make it 6-3 with one out. Lenhard left Camden stranded on second with two key outs to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Lesley got Jacobs and Dennett on base with a pair of walks. They would load the bases with no outs with a bunt single from McElroy. Brandon brought in home Jacobs and Dennett with a single to left field. Lesley loaded the bases again with one out and Morales singled to bring in McElroy to increase the lead to 9-3. The Hornets prohibited more runs on a double play to end the bottom of the fourth.
In the top of the fifth inning, sophomore outfielder Evan Duncan (Little Elms, TX) got Lyndon going with a single with one out. He advanced to second on a balk and would later score on a single by Tembreull to make the score 9-4.
Junior pitcher Isaiah Gutierrez came from the bullpen to start the bottom of the fifth. Holly ended his day with four innings pitched, five strikeouts, and five walks. Jacobs got on base with a walk and would still second. Dennett also walked and Lesley had runners on base with one out. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and would later score on a single by McElroy, making it 11-4.
At the top of the sixth, Caden Shott came to relieve Lenhard. Senior second baseman Dale Ostermann doubled to left field (Harrington, DE) with two outs, but the Hornets were unable to bring him in. Gutierrez held Lesley scoreless at the bottom half of the sixth.
Senior first baseman Kearson Grisham (Choctaw, MS) came into the game to pinch hit for Berry. Duncan walked with one out to start a Hornet rally. Tembreull also walked and Lyndon would have two runners on with two outs. Gonyeau hit a single to load the bases with two outs. Hornets were able to cash in one run when Alt was a hit by pitch to make the score 11-5. Tembreull then scored on a wild pitch to make the score 11-6. Lyndon had runners on second and third, but were unable to bring those runs in.
Dorsey was hit by pitch leading off the bottom half of the inning. He would advance to second on a wild pitch. Cal Caruso walked to put runners on first and second with no outs. Jacobs singled up the middle to bring in Dorsey, making the score 12-6. McElroy walked and that loaded the bases with one out. That was the end for Gutierrez. He ended his day with two innings pitched with four walks. Coming out of the bullpen for the Hornets was freshman Adam Guenther (Southington, CT). Guenther walked his first batter and that would bring in Caruso. McCarthy also walked and that brought in Jacobs, increasing the Lesley lead to 14-6. The inning would end with a double play.
Kolten Moyer would now pitch for Lesley and the Hornets couldn't score at the top of the eighth. Lesley got their two first hitters on base with a single from Morales and a hit by pitch by Dorsey. Caruso reached base on a fielder's choice and Lesley would have runners at the corners with one out. Caruso was caught stealing second, but Morales scored on the throw to put the score 15-6.
The Hornets had one more chance to tie or take the lead. They would load the bases with no outs with a single from Tembreull and a pair of walks to Gonyeau and Alt. Camden then walked to bring in Tembreull. Ostermann singled to third and Gonyeau scored to give the Hornets their eighth run. Lesley made a pinching change and brought in Logan Czachowski to close the game. Freshman catcher Austin Bigelow (East Hampton, CT) grounded to a fielder's choice and Lesley would get their first out. Grishman grounded out to first to bring in Camden,which cut the lead to 15-9 with two outs. Duncan walked to load the bases again and freshman Bryan Nazario (Little Elms, TX) walked to bring in Ostermann. Lesley got the last out afterwards on a strikeout to end the game.
For Lesley, Lenhard had a good pitching performance. He pitched five innings, walked one batter, had five strikeouts, and got the win. He is now 1-1 on the season. Dennett had three walks and scored three runs. McElroy went 3-4 with three runs batted in and one walk. Brandon went 2-4 with three runs batted in and one walk.
Camden and Ostermann both went 2-4 with three runs batted in for Camden and one for Ostermann. Alt went 2-3 with two runners batted in. Tembreull went 3-5 with one run batted in. Holly took the loss for the Hornets.
Game 2 - Lesley 6, VTSU Lyndon 3
After both teams failed to score through the first two and a half innings, Lesley got on the board in the bottom of the third. Colby Jacobs reached on an error leading off, then stole second. He then capitalized on two Lyndon errors on the same play to come home with the first run of the game.
Lyndon took the lead with two runs in the top of the fourth inning. After Tembreull walked leading off, Gonyeau laced a triple to deep left center field, scoring Tembreull. Gonyeau scored on Alt's sacrifice fly, giving the Hornets a 2-1 lead.
Lesley responded in the home fourth. McCarthy walked leading off, then back to back walks to Morales and Dorsey loaded the bases. Jacobs delivered a two-out base hit, driving in McCarthy and Morales to put the Lynx back in front, 3-2.
Lesley increased their lead to 4-2 in the home fifth when McElroy walked leading off, moved to third on Brandon's double, and scored on McCarthy's sacrifice fly.
The Lynx tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Dorsey started the inning with a lead off base hit. One out later, Jacobs homered over the center field fence to increase the Lesley lead to 6-2.
Lyndon attempted to rally in their final turn at bat. Alt was hit by a pitch leading off, then Ostermann delivered a one-out single to put runners at the corners. With two outs, Ostermann came home on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 6-3. After Carter Paquette (Shoreham, VT) walked, The Hornets brought the tying run to the plate. However Lesley reliever Patrick Teasdale got Duncan to ground out to end the game.
Jacobs had a big game with a home run, two hits, and four runs batted in. Lesley also got strong games at the plate from Brandon with a single and a double and McElroy with a pair of base hits. Lynx starter Jacob Nemergut got the win after striking out seven and allowing only one hit over six plus innings.
Alberto Bustamante (Northridge, CA) started and took the loss for Lyndon.
The Hornets and Lynx will wrap up their weekend series with another doubleheader on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for noon at Minuteman High School.
