SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The New Haven baseball team dropped both games of its Saturday doubleheader at American International, as the Yellow Jackets pulled away late in both games for an 8-1 win in game one and a 6-2 victory in the nightcap. Junior Matt Chamberlain (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) was 4-for-8 with a walk and a run in the two games, sophomore Rob Giovanelli (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) had a pair of hits on the day including a two run single in game two, and senior James Myers (Saint James, N.Y./Smithtown East) had a hit in each game, scoring a run in game one.
The same two teams will wrap up their three game series on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Bedard Field in Springfield.
GAME ONE
The Chargers put the leadoff batter on in each of the first seven innings, and had at least one batter reach base in every inning except the eighth, but only managed to push across one unearned run in the fourth inning.
The Chargers loaded the bases with two outs in the third on a Chamberlain walk, a Billy Huber (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) infield single and an Andrew Garcia (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) hit by a pitch. But, a strikeout swinging ended the threat without a run.
New Haven broke through in the fourth for the first run of the game, starting when George Pappas (Binghamton, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley) got on base with a leadoff walk. After moving to second on a sac bunt, Pappas advanced to third on an error, before coming home on a passed ball to give the Chargers the 1-0 lead.
AIC put the first two batters on in the fourth, but Chargers' starter Christopher Leindecker (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) got a ground out and two foul outs to end the inning unscathed.
The Yellow Jackets then pushed across three runs in the last of the fifth. With two outs and a man on first, AIC used a hit to center field and a hit by pitch to load the bases, setting the table for Matthew Elliot who drove in all three runners with a double to center field, making it a 3-1 game.
The Chargers loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth on an infield single by Myers, but were unable to score. AIC tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back two out hits.
AIC then pulled away with four more runs in the seventh on two hits while sending 10 batters to the plate. A hit by pitch, followed by a walk and a single plated one run to make it 5-1, chasing Leindecker from the game. A two-run double by the next batter moved the score to 7-1, and a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning plated the Yellow Jacket's eighth run.
GAME TWO
The Yellow Jackets put the first three runners on in the first inning of game two, taking a 1-0 lead on a walk, hit by pitch, and a RBI single. Elliot tacked on another AIC run with a solo homer with one down in the third for the 2-0 advantage. The round-tripper would prove to be the last hit the Yellow Jackets got until the sixth inning.
New Haven evened up the score with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth. Myers led off with a single, stole second, and went to third on an infield hit by Chamberlain. After Chamberlain stole second, Giovanelli delivered a key two-out hit the other way to right field to plate both runners tie the game 2-2.
AIC retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth, starting off with an infield hit by Brandon Gaul. After DiMascio was lifted in favor of a reliever, Gaul came in to score unearned on a wild pitch with what proved to be the winning run.
After keeping New Haven scoreless in the top of the seventh, the Yellow Jackets clubbed their second solo homer of the game, and later added a RBI double to push their lead to 6-2 after seven innings. AIC's pitching made the runs stand up, retiring 10 of the final 12 New Haven batters they faced to lock down the win.
DiMascio was the pitcher of record for the Chargers after throwing 5.1 innings and allowing two runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
