WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The New Haven baseball team dropped both ends of their doubleheader on Friday against Le Moyne, with the Dolphins taking the opener 5-2, and game two by a score of 7-1. New Haven collected seven hits in both games, with seniors James Myers (Saint James, N.Y./Smithtown East) and Andrew Garcia (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) getting two hits apiece in game one, while freshmen Thomas Eletto (Locust Valley, N.Y./Locust Valley) and Dylan Chiaro (Southington, Conn./Southington) each tallied two hits in the nightcap. Sophomore Cam Guarino (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) tossed five innings of relief in game one, allowing three hits and one run. Senior Christopher Leindecker (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) struck out a season-high eight batters while making the start in game two. The Chargers have now dropped six games in a row and fall to 11-18 (5-10 NE10), while Le Moyne moves to 17-19 (8-8 NE10)
GAME ONE
Junior Devon DiMascio (Mansfield, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) struck out two over the first two innings, working around a walk in the first and used a strikeout looking to end the second after a pair of hits.
The Chargers struck first for a run in the bottom of the second for the early 1-0 lead. Garcia led off with a line drive over the left fielder's head for a double, then went to third on a sac bunt by George Pappas (Binghamton, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley). Eletto stepped in and crushed a shot all the way to the fence in right-center field for a double, plating Garcia for the early lead.
Le Moyne broke through for four runs in the top of the fourth, putting the first five batters on base with three consecutive hits, followed by a pair of walks. After two straight singles, Camillo Spinoso drove a double down the left field line to knot the game 1-1. After a walk, Guarino relieved DiMascio out of the pen and issued a bases loaded walk for the Dolphins' second run. A sac fly to right field, then an error infield plated to more runs to make it 4-1 before Guarino came away with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. The four earned runs were charged to DiMascio, who gave up five hits and struck out five over four-plus innings of work.
The Dolphins put a runner on in the sixth, but Chiaro came running in to make a diving catch in left-center to end the inning and save a run.
After Guarino retired the side in order in the seventh and eighth innings, Chiaro legged out an infield single to start the Chargers in the eighth. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and two batters later, Myers strode to the plate and roped a line drive the other way into the right-center gap to score Chairo and cut the deficit to 4-2.
Le Moyne tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth, snapping a stretch of nine in a row retired by Guarino and stringing together a walk and back-to-back hits with two outs to take a 5-2 lead. Garcia led off the bottom of the ninth for New Haven with a ringing single to left field, but a strikeout, fielder's choice and fly ball ended the game.
GAME TWO
Game two started off as a pitcher's duel, with the game remaining scoreless through the first five innings. Each team picked up two hits through the first three innings, with the Chargers stranding two runners in the second. Leindecker picked up five strikeouts over the first three frames.
The stalemate continued into the fourth with Leindecker and Le Moyne starter Sam Walsh retiring the sides in order.
Leindecker issued a walk leading off the sixth, breaking up a string of retiring five batters in a row. Two batters later, Andrew Taft lined his NE10 Conference-leading 11th home run of the season over the left field fence to give the Dolphins the 2-0 lead. Next up, Michael Smith singled to right-center field, advanced to second on an error, then came in to score on a double deep into the left-center gap that extended the lead to 3-0.
Matt Chamberlain (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) singled with two outs in the sixth and stole second, but was stranded after an inning ending strikeout.
Le Moyne added to the lead with another run in the top of the seventh, with a leadoff single and a RBI double deep down the left field line to extend the lead to 4-0.
Eletto led off the seventh for the Chargers with a ground rule double to left center field. Chiaro lined one through the hole to move Eletto over to third, and Noah Fortuna (Plainview, N.Y./St. Anthony's) laced one through the right side for base hit to score Eletto and put the Chargers on the board, 4-1. The Chargers threatened for more as Noah Budzik (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell) followed by reaching on a fielder's choice with two down, but a foul out ended the rally.
Le Moyne pushed across three more runs on two hits in the eighth, with one run scoring on a passed ball, and two more coming on a two out single to left field to take a 7-1 lead.
The Chargers put a runner on base in both the eighth and ninth innings, but were unable to score. Freshmen Josh Lester (Amityville, N.Y./Copiague) picked up his first collegiate hit with a pinch hit single to left field in the ninth inning.
The same two teams will square off on Monday afternoon at Vieira Field to conclude their three-game season series. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
