DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – The New Haven baseball team dropped a pair of seven-inning games in a doubleheader sweep at Mercy on Sunday afternoon. The Chargers amassed just two hits in each game, dropping their record to 6-7 with a 2-0 defeat in game one and a 3-2 loss in game two. Junior centerfielder Matt Chamberlain (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) had a pair of doubles, scored a run and drove in another in six at bats on the day. On the mound, Brandon LaManna (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West), Brendon Malouf (Beacon, N.Y./Beacon) and Kevin McNiff (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) combined to throw 4.1 innings of scoreless relief on just one hit over the two games.
GAME ONE
Junior Devon DiMascio (Mansfield, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) made his third start of the season and went 4.2 innings, allowing two earned runs and five hits while striking out three.
New Haven put runners on base in five of the seven innings. The Chargers stranded a runner on second base in each of the first three innings, with James Myers (Saint James, N.Y./Smithtown East) getting a leadoff single to center field in the third for the team's first hit. New Haven put two on with two out in the fourth, but were unable to push a run across.
After a scoreless first four innings, Mercy strung together three hits and a walk in the fifth to score the game's only two runs. With a runner on third and two out, Mercy used a double and a single to take a 2-0 lead. Malouf entered in relief of DiMascio and induced a ground ball to first to end the inning.
Chamberlain tried to spark a Chargers' rally with a leadoff double in the sixth, but Mercy starter Jack Kelly retired the next three batters to end the inning, and closer Andrew Hernandez had a 1-2-3 seventh inning to lock down the game one win for the Mavericks.
GAME TWO
Freshman Thomas Eletto (Locust Valley, N.Y./Locust Valley) got the ball in game two for the Chargers. After a scoreless first two innings, Mercy broke through in the bottom of the third, loading the bases with one out after a single and two walks. After a flyout to shallow center for the second out held the runners, Adonis Garcia stepped up and smacked a bases clearing triple for the 3-0 Mercy lead.
New Haven came right back with two runs in the top of the fourth to make it a one run game. Freshman Noah Budzik (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell) led off with a double down the right field line, and scored two batters later on a double by Chamberlain. After advancing to third on a failed pickoff attempt, Chamberlain was brought home on a sac fly by Andrew Garcia (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford).
LaManna picked up four strikeouts while retiring all seven batters he faced in relief to keep the Chargers within one run, but Mercy pitching retired the final 11 batters of the game to complete their three-game sweep of the weekend series.
Next up, the Chargers will take on Assumption in the Northeast 10 Conference and home opener this Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Frank Vieira Field.
