Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College baseball team (19-15, 4-4 NE10) recorded a total of six home runs during their doubleheader against The College of Saint Rose (11-16, 2-6 NE10) at Dick Rockwell Field on Sunday afternoon to claim two more NE10 Southwest Division wins and complete a four-game series sweep of the visiting Golden Knights.

After defeating Saint Rose by scores of 13-0 and 7-3 on Saturday with the help of home runs from Brody Keneston, Wyatt Patchett, Adam Sullivan and Nick Nevins, the Dolphins claimed an 8-4 win during game one (a seven-inning contest) on Sunday before besting the Golden Knights 12-7 in the series finale (a nine-inning contest) to accumulate a total of 40 runs during the four-game series.

Prior to Sunday's doubleheader, the Le Moyne Athletic Department, celebrating the 75^th Anniversary of the Le Moyne baseball program, retired the jersey numbers of Coach Dick Rockwell and Eric Holstein '87.

Banners for Rockwell's #24 and Holstein's #13 were revealed on the left field fence prior to the first pitch.

"The guys put together another solid day," said Le Moyne head coach Scott Cassidy '98 following the sweep. "Several guys contributed offensively with home runs from five different players and AJ (Petraitis) notched his first college win. It was a great finish to the weekend on a day that we celebrated 75 years of Le Moyne Baseball," Cassidy added.

Patchett, Le Moyne's sophomore right fielder, recorded a home run in both games on Sunday to improve his season total to nine, which is tied for the second most long balls among Northeast-10 Conference hitters.

Patchett launched a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth during game one, then he delivered another solo home run during the bottom of the eighth in game two.

Graduate first baseman Dewey Roden (Sherrill, N.Y./Vernon-Verona-Sherrill/UMass Lowell) and sophomore catcher Benji Ries (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) both launched a home run in the third inning during the 8-4 win. Roden's was a go-ahead two-run bomb that gave the 'Phins a 4-3 lead, then after Sullivan drove in senior center fielder Zach Brush (New York Mills, N.Y./Utica Notre Dame) with a base hit to right field, Ries hammered a two-run home run to right-center field to give Le Moyne a 7-3 advantage.

Sullivan and Nevins each homered in game two prior to Patchett's solo shot in the eighth. With the 'Phins trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Nevins hit a line drive missile that left the park in a hurry, sailing over the right-center field fence to cut Le Moyne's deficit in half.

Immediately after Nevins' rocket, Keneston recorded a base hit to right field, then Brush and Patchett both drew walks to load the bases.

The left-handed hitting Sullivan stepped to the plate next against Saint Rose's lefty pitcher and hammered a 3-1 fastball on the inside part of the plate and sent it flying to the opposite field and over the fence for a grand slam, the fourth long ball of his rookie campaign and his first career four-run home run. Sullivan's four RBIs during game two tied his season high. The rookie left fielder finished the Saint Rose series with a team-best nine runs batted in.

Ries tallied two hits, three RBIs and a run scored as the catcher in game one, then he provided two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored during the second half of Sunday's doubleheader as the designated hitter.

Sophomore left-handed pitcher Jacob Crystal (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) started game one on the mound for the 'Phins and went 4.0 innings to earn the win. Junior right-hander Billy Hoffacker (Erial, N.J./Timber Creek/Rowan College of South Jersey) pitched a scoreless fifth inning, then senior righty Jed Boyle (Syracuse, N.Y./Corcoran) allowed just two hits, zero walks and zero runs over the final 2.0 frames to close out Le Moyne's third straight win.

Le Moyne freshman right-hander AJ Petraitis (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) started game two on the mound and completed 6.0 innings of work to earn his first collegiate victory. Petraitis held the Golden Knights to six hits and three earned runs with five strikeouts during his second NE10 start.

Sophomore right-hander Steven Freer (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) pitched 1.0 inning in relief, then redshirt-sophomore righty Jordan Goldmann (Encinitas, Calif./Canyon Crest Academy/Palomar College/Grossmont College) tossed the final 2.0 frames to close out the sweep.

Game One:
The Golden Knights struck first in the top of the first when third baseman James Ward and DH Louis Gendron led off the inning with back-to-back singles preceding an RBI sacrifice bunt from shortstop Vince Venditti.

Graduate second baseman and leadoff hitter Drew Carroll (Clifton Park, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy (Albany)) helped manufacture a run in the bottom of the first to tie the game.

Carroll got ahead 3-1 during Le Moyne's first at bat of the contest, then ripped a fastball through the left side of the infield for a leadoff single. During the first pitch of Nevins' at bat, Carroll stole second base then advanced to third on an errant throw from the catcher.

On a 2-0 pitch, Nevins lifted a fly ball to deep right field which allowed Carroll to tag up and score easily.

After Patchett drew a one-out walk with nobody on in the bottom of the second, the 'Phins executed a hit-and-run play with Sullivan at the plate. On an 0-1 pitch, Patchett took off for second, and Sullivan ripped a ground ball through the right side of the infield, which allowed Patchett to advance to third.

During the next at bat, Ries got an elevated pitch on a 3-2 count and lifted a fly ball to deep right field to drive in Patchett and give the 'Phins a 2-1 lead via their second sacrifice fly in as many innings.

Saint Rose took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third on a two-run home run from senior first baseman Jack McDonald.

Nevins led off the next half inning with a double down the right field line, then Roden swung hard at a 2-1 fastball over the plate and sent a no-doubt home run high over the right field fence to once again put the Dolphins on top.

Saint Rose starting pitcher Randall Alejo recorded a strikeout for the first out of the inning, then Brush drew a walk and Patchett ripped a single through the right side to give Le Moyne runners on first and third with one out. After a pitching change, Sullivan swung at a 3-1 pitch low in the strike zone and ripped a line drive to the right of the second baseman and into the right-center field grass to drive in Patchett and make it a two-run game. Ries launched a home run to right-center field during the next at bat to put Le Moyne up 7-3.

The 'Phins got their final run of game one in the bottom of the fifth on Patchett's solo home run.

Le Moyne's defense was great all weekend, and during Sunday's doubleheader the 'Phins did not commit a single error during the 16 combined innings.

Carroll made a tremendous sliding play at second base to end the top of the second in game one, then Boyle initiated a 1-6-4 double play in the top of the sixth to end the inning.

Game Two:
Saint Rose struck first in the top of the third with a two-RBI double from Gendron.

After being held scoreless during the first three frames, the Dolphins exploded for six hits and six runs in the bottom of the fourth with the help of Nevins' solo home run, Sullivan's grand slam, and an RBI single from Roden.

Ward delivered a solo home run with one out in the top of the fifth, but Petraitis recorded a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning and prevent further damage.

Brush doubled to lead off the bottom of the fifth, then Patchett moved him to third with a base hit through the left side. Patchett stole second base to give Le Moyne runners on second and third with zero outs, then Ries ripped a single up the middle to drive in both runners and make it 8-3 in favor of the Dolphins. Ries scored later in the inning on a wild pitch.

Le Moyne scored a run in the sixth, one in the seventh and another in the eighth to keep the game out of reach.

The Le Moyne baseball team will return to action on April 22 when they travel to Pace University (24-8, 4-4 NE10) for a four-game series against the Setters on Saturday and Sunday.