Baseball Falls to Lesley on Senior Day

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Lesley University finished with 18 hits in an 11-4 victory at Mitchell College on Sunday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference baseball action at Alumni Field.

The win—coupled with a Becker College loss to Newbury College—helped the Lynx (18-17 overall, 10-8 NECC) clinch a berth in the upcoming NECC Baseball Championship. Lesley will be the fourth seed in the double-elimination tournament, which will be hosted by top-seeded Mitchell on April 29 to May 1.

J.P. Agiorgousis led the Lesley offense with a 5-for-6 day at the plate that included a double, home run and three RBI. Daniel O'Donnell and Vincent Taliercio also went deep in the contest for the Lynx while Mike Slaby finished with three hits.

Lesley put up two runs on three hits in the opening frame. Agiorgousis and Slaby set the table with back-to-back singles and Jacob Cervantes followed with a two-out double past the third base bag, driving in one run while the second scored due to a fielding error.

Mitchell got a run back in the home half of the first as a ground-rule double by Kyle Hartenstein put two runners in scoring position with no outs. Jack Finnegan plated a run with a ground out to second, but Lesley starter Tom Muratore retired the next two batters to keep the Lynx in front.

Muratore pitched around a lead-off double in the second and stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the frame. The Lynx then bumped the lead to 3-1 in the third as Agiorgousis led off with a single, went from first to third on a passed ball and scored on a ground out by Ryan Pumphret.

Taliercio, Agiorgousis and O'Donnell all left the yard in the fourth inning as the Lynx put up eight runs on seven hits. Lesley sent a total of 12 batters to the plate in the frame, and Taliercio started the scoring with a solo homer to left. Agiorgousis and O'Donnell later followed with three-run shots over the left field fence to make it an 11-1 game.

The Mariners picked up a run in the fifth on a sac fly by Hartenstein and another in the sixth on an RBI single by Chandler Whitney. Mitchell's final run came in the seventh on a solo homer by Finnegan, his second in as many days.

Muratore (5-3 overall) went 7.0 innings and allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out six. Nick DeGrenier and Nick Iadevaio each threw a scoreless inning of relief to close out the win.

Evan Dickerson made his first career start for the Mariners on Senior Day. He allowed 10 runs (two earned) on 10 hits through 3.2 innings and fanned two.

Prior to the game the Mariners honored six seniors in a special ceremony. The group -- which included Dickerson, Clayton Shaw, Tyler Shamas, Al Jordan Johnson, Domenick Giaramida and Neftali Arroyo -- has won 102 games, two NECC Championships and four NECC regular season titles.

Mitchell (23-9 overall, 13-5 NECC) will next play Coast Guard Academy on Tuesday, April 26 at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. Lesley returns to action at Gordon College on Wednesday, April 27 at 3:30 p.m.