Syracuse, N.Y. – Sophomore righty Joe Vail (Cromwell, Conn./Xavier) struck out eight and freshman shortstop Nick Nevins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) drove in five runs to lead the third-seeded Le Moyne College baseball team to a 16-2 win over fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce University in the second game of day one of Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Championship Weekend on Thursday afternoon at Onondaga Community College.

The Dolphins (24-23) advance to the winner's bracket and will take on Merrimack College, the third seed in the Northeast Division, on Friday at 12:00 p.m. at OCC. The winner will advance to Saturday's championship game, while the non-winner will take on Franklin Pierce at 3:30 p.m. (or 45 minutes after the conclusion of game one, whichever is later) in an elimination game for the right to advance to the championship game.

Franklin Pierce opened the game's scoring with a run in the top of the third inning as second baseman Carmine Giordano led off the frame with a home run down the left field line.

The Dolphins answered with 16 straight runs, including a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Junior third baseman Nicholas Jacques (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Shenendehowa) led off with a double down the left field line and took third on a wild pitch. After a pair of walks by junior center fielder Justin Tuey (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) and senior left fielder David DiNorcia (Naples, Fla./Seacrest Country Day) around an out to load the bases, Nevins singled through the right side to drive in Jacques and Tuey.

Le Moyne extended its lead to 5-1 with three runs in the fifth. Following a one-out single down the right field line by DiNorcia and a two-out single up the middle by senior catcher Camillo Spinoso (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy (Syracuse)/George Washington), redshirt senior first baseman Andrew Taft (Clinton, N.Y./Clinton/Buffalo) demolished a home run over the fence in left center for his East Region-best 14th home run of the season. With the home run, Taft becomes the first Dolphin in the program's history to hit 14 home runs in multiple seasons (17 last year).

The Dolphins added four runs in the sixth. Sophomore right fielder Michael Smith (Montebello, N.Y./Suffern) led off with a single to right center and took second on a sacrifice bunt. Following an out, freshman second baseman Drew Carroll (Clifton Park, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy (Albany)) was hit by a pitch and DiNorcia walked on four pitches to load the bases and force a pitching change. Nevins greeted the new pitcher with a triple to right center to clear the bases. Spinoso then singled in front of the plate to knock in Nevins.

Le Moyne pushed across another run in the seventh as senior designated hitter Nick Place (Towanda, Pa./Towanda) smacked a home run to left center to start the inning.

The Dolphins tacked on six runs in the eighth on five hits. Following a pair of outs around a single by Nevins, Taft walked on four pitches and Place was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Smith then singled to left center to drive in Nevins and Taft. After Jacques singled up the middle to load the bases again, Tuey tripled to right center to score Place, Smith and Jacques. Carroll drove in Tuey with Le Moyne's final run of the game with a single through the left side.

The Ravens completed the game's scoring with a run in the ninth without getting a hit. Giordano and shortstop Zach Landry drew walks with one out. After Giordano advanced to third on a groundout, catcher Dylan Jones reached on a fielding error by the third baseman, which allowed Giordano to score.

Vail collected his third win of the season after recording his eight strikeouts and yielding just one run on only five hits. Smith led four Dolphins with multiple hits with four, while Nevins finished with three hits and Spinoso and Jacques each had two. Ryan Covelle took the loss for the Ravens after allowing five runs and six hits over five innings.