Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College baseball team got home runs from three players in their final regular season home game en route to defeating Assumption College, 12-1, on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division play at Dick Rockwell Field.
Despite winning their final five games of the regular season, the Dolphins finished divisional play in third place and will open Northeast-10 Conference Championships play on Tuesday with a first round match-up at second-seeded Pace University at 2:00 p.m. The winner advances to the four-team, double-elimination portion of the Championships, hosted by the highest remaining seed from the Southwest Division, either top-seeded University of New Haven or the Pace/Le Moyne winner. The double-elimination portion, which also includes the two winners of the Northeast Division first round games, will run from Thursday until Saturday.
Assumption scored its only run on two hits and a Le Moyne error in the second inning. Catcher Tomas Paine led off with a single up the middle and moved to second as second baseman Michael Panza reached on a fielding error by the third baseman. After a pair of outs, shortstop Shane Keddy singled up the middle to drive in Paine.
The Dolphins took the lead in the bottom of the third with four runs on three hits and an Assumption error. Graduate student second baseman Vincent Redmond (Ithaca, N.Y./Lansing/Garrett College) and graduate student designated hitter Matthew Ciraco (White Plains, N.Y./Perkiomen School) opened the frame with back-to-back infield singles. After a fly out, junior center fielder Pat Wiese (Fayetteville, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) drove in Redmond as he reached on a fielding error by the first baseman. Graduate student shortstop Ryan Mahoney (Clay, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) then blasted a three-run home run to left field.
Le Moyne, which won 10 of its final 13 games, including a pair of 5-0 streaks, extended its lead with four runs on three hits in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Wiese doubled to right field to lead off the inning and junior left fielder Nate Reynolds (Johnson City, N.Y./Maine-Endwell) was hit by a pitch with two outs, senior catcher Brian Stinson (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) singled through the left side to knock in Wiese. Senior first baseman Paul Speicher (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) launched a three-run homer to left field for an 8-1 lead.
The Dolphins, who have outscored Greyhounds, 61-14, in six all-time meetings, completed their scoring with four runs on three hits in the sixth inning. Wiese was hit by a pitch and then Mahoney singled to right field to open the frame. After a fly out moved each runner up a base, Reynolds doubled down the left field line to drive in Wiese and Mahoney. Stinson followed by smacking a two-run home run to left center.
Freshman southpaw Zach Tucker (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius), making just his second appearance since a March 5th start at LIU Post, picked up his first collegiate victory after striking out two batters over five innings on the mound, while yielding just an unearned run on five hits. Sophomore Conor Nolan (Syracuse, N.Y./Corcoran) earned his third save of the year after tossing four perfect innings out of the bullpen. Ciraco led Le Moyne's 15-hit attack with four hits, while Mahoney had three hits and Stinson and senior right fielder Kody O'Connor (Mexico, N.Y./Mexico) had two hits each. Santi Palmer took the loss for the Greyhounds after giving up eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits over five innings of work. Keddy accounted for two of Assumption's five hits.
