Syracuse, N.Y. – Redshirt junior first baseman Andrew Taft (Clinton, N.Y./Clinton/Buffalo) homered twice and junior righty Josiah Gray (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) struck out a career-high 13 batters to lead the #15/30 Le Moyne College baseball team to a 7-3 win over Pace University in the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championships on Tuesday afternoon at Dick Rockwell Field.

With the victory, the Dolphins improve to 2-1 against the Setters in the NE10 first round (win in 2013, loss in 2016) and advance to the four-team, double-elimination portion of the NE10 Championships, which will be hosted Thursday through Saturday by Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire. At 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, the Dolphins will face third-seeded Merrimack College, which upset second-seeded Franklin Pierce University. Joining the Dolphins, Southern New Hampshire and Merrimack will be the University of New Haven, the second seed from the Southwest Division.

The Dolphins opened the day's scoring with two runs in the first inning. After senior right fielder Brian Cox (North Kingstown, R.I./North Kingstown) walked on five pitches to start the frame, Taft cleared the fence in left center with the first pitch for his single-season program-record 15th home run. Five Dolphins held the previous record of 14 home runs. Three of the next four batters reached to load the bases, but the following two batters were retired.

Le Moyne extended its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the second. Taft walked on seven pitches with two outs, moved to second on a single up the middle by junior designated hitter Nick Place (Towanda, Pa./Towanda) and came around to score on a single to center by redshirt junior shortstop Ben Walsh (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill). The RBI is Walsh's 55th of the year, the fifth-most by a Dolphin in a season and the most since Chris Edmondson '10 had 64 in 2008.

Pace broke through in the sixth with its first run in 14 innings this season against Gray. On full count with two outs, shortstop Paul Piccolino homered down the left field line to get the Setters within 3-1.

The Dolphins answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth on two hits. Freshman left fielder Nick Spinella (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) drew a walk to open the frame and took second on a wild pitch. After moving to third on a sacrifice bunt, Spinella scored on a single to right field by Cox, who then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Following a strikeout, Place doubled to right center to drive in Cox for his 58th run scored of the season, the fourth-most by a Dolphin and the most since Jeff Justice '04 also had 58 in 2004.

The Setters scored twice with two outs in the seventh on three hits to get back within two. Right fielder Ryan Crowley doubled down the left field line, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a double to right center by first baseman Brian Bohlander. Pinch-hitter/left fielder Harrison Treble then dropped a single in shallow center to knock in Bohlander.

Le Moyne got one run back in the bottom of the seventh on one hit. Junior catcher Camillo Spinoso (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy/George Washington) drew a walk to start the inning and moved to second on a sac bunt. After a strikeout and a four-pitch walk by Spinella, senior center fielder Timothy Corapi (Liverpool, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) singled to right center to plate Spinoso.

Taft led off the eighth inning by blasting a 1-0 pitch over the fence in center field for his 16th home run of the year.

Gray improves to an East Region-best 10-0 on the season after striking out 13 over seven innings, while yielding three runs and five hits. Just the ninth Dolphin to win 10 games in a season, he is the first since Bobby Blevins '07 did so in 2006. Gray, who on Friday was elevated to 96th (from 123) on Baseball America's Top 500 MLB Draft Prospects rankings, is one of just four pitchers in Division II to have at least 10 wins and zero losses. His 13 strikeouts are the most by a Dolphin since Damian Powers also had 13 on April 29, 2016 against Saint Rose. Senior righty Alex Kubera (Dunkirk, N.Y./Dunkirk/Niagara C.C.) struck out three batters, including the final batter of the game, over the final two innings to earn his fourth save of the year. Taft, Place and Walsh, the 3-4-5 hitters in the batting order, each recorded two hits, while Taft knocked in three runs and scored three times. Ryan Aquino took the loss after allowing three runs and six hits over five innings, while striking out five.