Syracuse, N.Y. – During their first Northeast-10 Conference series on Dick Rockwell Field this season, the Le Moyne College baseball team won three of four contests against the visiting University of New Haven Chargers, including two wins during the Monday afternoon doubleheader between the two sides.

Graduate left-hander Joe Vail (Cromwell, Conn./Xavier) delivered an impressive complete-game pitching performance in a winning effort during game one of Monday's doubleheader with the help of a go-ahead three-run homerun from Michael Smith (Montebello, N.Y./Suffern) in the bottom of the 5^th which put the 'Phins on top for good at 5-3.

Le Moyne capped the four-game series off with some fireworks, launching seven homeruns during the second half of the doubleheader on their way to a 12-2 victory.

"The bats were hot today," said Le Moyne Head Coach Scott Cassidy '98 after today's doubleheader. "The offense squared up a lot of balls and exploded in game two. Mike Smith had an incredible weekend at the plate leading the way. Not to be outdone, our pitchers did a great job all weekend. It was a total team effort the entire series," Coach Cassidy added.

Jacob Maser (Chittenango, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy (Syracuse)) started game two on the mound for the 'Phins and provided 5.0 strong innings during which he allowed just two runs and struck out six batters.

Steven Freer (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) allowed just one hit and zero runs during 3.0 innings in relief, and Matt Tarby (Liverpool, N.Y./Bishop Grimes) pitched the top of the 9^th without allowing a hit to put the game away.

Drew Carroll (Clifton Park, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy (Albany)) put together his first career multi-homerun game during Le Moyne's 12-2 victory. Carroll blasted two homeruns during the game two win and finished with three RBIs.

Zach Brush (New York Mills, N.Y./Utica Notre Dame), Ty Syta (Hamburg, N.Y./St. Francis), Nick Hansen (Troy, N.Y./La Salle Institute/Hudson Valley C.C.), and Smith each also recorded a homerun during the second half of Monday's doubleheader, and Benji Ries (Buffalo Grove, I.L./Adlai E. Stevenson) hammered his first career homerun as a Dolphin, a two-run blast over the center field fence, during the win.

Vail gave up three runs during the top of the 1^st in game one caused by a Robert Taylor RBI double followed by an Andrew Cain two-run homerun.

After the shaky start, the graduate left-hander showed lots of courage by delivering six consecutive scoreless innings throughout the rest of the contest to earn the pitching decision victory.

Le Moyne began to chip away at the 3-0 deficit in the bottom of the 3^rd when Brush led off the inning with a solo homerun.

Brush recorded his second RBI of the contest during the following inning. Drew Fureno (Canajoharie, N.Y./Fort Plain) led off the bottom of the 4^th with a single into left field.
Jason Boule (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy (Syracuse)) followed that up with a walk, then a Derrick Miller (Westernville, N.Y./Rome Free Academy/Hudson Valley C.C.) ground ball resulted in a fielder's choice and put runners on first and third. Miller promptly stole second to put two Le Moyne runners in scoring position with just one out. Brush came to the plate next and hit a ground ball to the right side of the infield which allowed Fureno to score and cut Le Moyne's deficit to 3-2.

Vail shut down the Chargers in the top of the 5^th, then Nick Nevins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) led off the bottom of the 5^th with a base hit through the left side of the infield. Nevins advanced to second base on a wild pitch, then Syta drew a walk to put runners on first and second with zero outs.

Hansen dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over.

With one out and runners on second and third for the 'Phins, Smith smashed a three-run homerun over the right field fence to put Le Moyne on top 5-3.

Vail allowed just one baserunner in the 6^th inning, then produced a 1-2-3 top of the 7^th to conclude his outing and secure the victory.

Le Moyne jumped out to a 2-0 lead during the bottom of the 1^st inning in game two.

Carroll hit a one-out solo homerun, then Syta hit a two-out double into right center, and Hansen drove him in with a base hit up the middle.

In the bottom of the 2^nd, Brush hit a two-out solo homerun over the right field fence to give the 'Phins a 3-0 lead.

Maser cruised through the first four innings, then conceded a couple runs during the top of the 5^th.

He allowed a walk, then gave up a two-run homerun to Tyler Wells. Maser got a fly ball to end the inning, which concluded his outing.

Freer entered the game at the start of the 6^th inning, and hit the first batter he faced. The runner stole second, Freer struck out a batter, then walked the next one. Both runners stole a base to put men on second and third with just one out for the Chargers. Freer got a ground ball, then a fly ball to end the inning and preserve Le Moyne's 3-2 lead.

Le Moyne crushed the ball throughout the bottom of the 6^th inning. The Dolphins launched four homeruns during the inning, and extended their lead to 9-2. Syta and Hansen led off the 6^th with back-to-back solo homeruns, then Ries and Carroll each hit a two-run homerun during the inning.

Smith hit a two-run homerun of his own (his 6^th homerun of the season) during the bottom of the 7^th to make it 11-2 in favor of the Dolphins.

A Nevins one-out single followed by a Hansen double to right center made it a 10-run game in the bottom of the 8^th, then Tarby struck out all three batters in the top of the 9^th to finish the game.

The Le Moyne College baseball team improved to 16-13 on the season following today's wins, and will be back in action on Friday, April 15 when they play a doubleheader against American International College on their home field starting at 1:00 p.m.