Newark, Del. – The Le Moyne College baseball team defeated the Goldey-Beacom College Lightning by a score of 6-5 on Sunday in the NCAA East Regional #2 Finals to advance to the Super Regional against the top seed in the East Region #10/22 Southern New Hampshire.
 
Sunday was the third time in three days that the Dolphins and the Lightning faced off in East Regional #2. Third-seeded Le Moyne bested second-seeded Goldey-Beacom in a winners' bracket matchup on Friday night behind a dominant performance from Sam DiGeorge (Canastota, N.Y./Canastota) and three home runs from Brody Keneston (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa), but the Lighting bounced back with a 14-2 win over sixth-seeded Queens in an elimination matchup on Saturday, then they claimed a 7-5 win over the 'Phins during Saturday's nightcap to force a rubber match on Sunday for the title and a chance to take on SNHU in the Super Regional on May 26 and 27 in Hooksett, New Hampshire.
 
Graduate first baseman Dewey Roden (Sherrill, N.Y./Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) and fifth-year shortstop Nick Nevins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) led the charge for Le Moyne at the plate during the winner-take-all battle on Sunday at University of Delaware's Bob Hannah Stadium. Nevins tallied a career-high four hits and a season-high three runs scored during the postseason victory, while Roden tied his career-high of four RBIs with the help of a two-run home run, a single and a double. Le Moyne's two-hitter Nevins and three-hitter Roden combined for seven of Le Moyne's 13 hits, and three of the five times that Nevins reached base Roden immediately drove him in. Roden extended his hitting streak to 11 games during the victory.
 
Sophomore catcher Benji Ries (Buffalo Grove, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) and freshman left fielder Adam Sullivan (Syracuse, N.Y./Marcellus) contributed two hits and a run scored each to the Le Moyne cause, while freshman third baseman Lukas Egenhauser (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) drove in the final run on a sacrifice bunt in the top of the eighth and made a great play at third base for the final out of the game.
 
Freshman right-handed pitcher AJ Petraitis (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) made his 11^th start of the season for the 'Phins and held the Lightning to five hits and three runs through the first 4.0 innings. Fellow first-year right-hander Eric Swiencicki (Lancaster, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) was stellar out of the bullpen for the Dolphins, tossing three consecutive scoreless innings in the fifth, sixth and seventh frames before the Lightning broke through with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth via a two-out, two-RBI single from shortstop Braden Kolmansberger.
 
Le Moyne senior right-handed reliever Jed Boyle (Syracuse, N.Y./Corcoran) entered the contest following Kolmansberger's single, which made it a one-run game, and the 6'5" flame thrower struck out the next batter to end the inning before tossing a scoreless bottom of the ninth to earn his second save of the season. Swiencicki was credited with the win, improving his 2023 record to 3-1.
 
Goldey-Beacom, playing their fifth game in four days, started sophomore right-hander Alex Hinton on the mound. Hinton had made all 17 of his appearances this season in relief, and had not pitched more than 3.2 inning during a game in 2023 (he tossed 3.2 innings against the Dolphins during a 4-3 win on February 17). Hinton completed 4.2 innings of work for the Lightning before junior left-hander Dylan Bittle took the ball and got the final out of the fifth inning, and held the 'Phins scoreless in the sixth. Freshman righty Nate Miller pitched the seventh and eighth innings for Goldey-Beacom, then sophomore right-hander Luke Drzemiecki pitched a scoreless top of the ninth.
 
Kolmansberger, third baseman Kyle Walker and catcher Johnny Kampes each tallied two hits for the Lightning during the loss.
 
Goldey-Beacom finishes their season with a 37-20 record.
 
Le Moyne will make their first appearance in an NCAA DII Super Regional on Friday (the super regional was created in 2019). The last time the Dolphins appeared in the East Region Championship Game was in 2012, when they faced off against Southern New Hampshire.
 
"That was exciting baseball," said Le Moyne head coach Scott Cassidy '98 following the team's 34^th win of the campaign. "A very good game played by both teams. We got a good start from AJ (Petraitis) and some great relief work from Eric (Swiencicki) and Jed (Boyle). Our defense was fantastic all weekend with several guys making big plays. Benji (Ries) was unbelievable behind the dish all tournament and came up huge for us throwing out their guy [at second] in the ninth [inning]. It was a great team win. Now we will prepare for next weekend," added Cassidy.
 
Nevins drew a walk with one out in the top of the first to give the 'Phins their first base runner of the game, then Roden turned on a pitch during the next at bat and lifted a fly ball over the right field wall to give the 'Phins an early 2-0 lead.
 
In all three meetings between Le Moyne and Goldey-Beacom at the 2023 East Regional #2, the winning side recorded a home run in the opening frame. During the winners' bracket matchup on Friday, Keneston launched his first home run in the top of the first to give the 'Phins a 2-0 lead. During Goldey-Beacom's win over the Dolphins on Saturday, third baseman Darin Miller delivered a three-run home run in the top of the first for the Lightning.
 
Roden kep the pattern going with his two-run shot in the third at bat of game three between the two sides, but the Lightning responded with a run in the bottom of the inning. GBC got their first two runners on base then trimmed their deficit in half with an RBI single up the middle from Walker. The Lightning were looking for more runs during their first at bats with zero outs and runners on first and third, but Petraitis retired the next two batters on an infield fly and a strikeout.

After the left fielder Demetrius Johnson drew a two-out walk to load the bases, GBC designated hitter Dante DiSabatino hit a hard ground ball towards the right side. Roden made an excellent diving play to field the ball, then he tossed it to Petraitis who ran over to cover first. Petraitis beat the hitter to the bag to record the final out of the inning and strand all three runners on base.
 
Hinton worked around a leadoff double from Le Moyne catcher Benji Ries (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) in the top of the second to keep his team's deficit at one run, then the Lightning tied the game in the bottom of the second with the help of an RBI double from Kampes.
 
Nevins stepped to the plate with one out and nobody on in the top of the third and he extended his postseason hitting streak to eight games by thumping a ground ball past the first baseman and down the right field line for a double. Roden stepped to the plate next and smashed a 2-1 pitch off the wall in right field to drive in Nevins and put the Dolphins back in front, 3-2.
 
Petraitis struck out Goldey-Beacom's cleanup hitter for the first out in the bottom of the third, then Miller went opposite field and lifted a fly ball over the wall in right-center to tie the game at 3-3.
 
Right fielder Matt Benner recorded a one-out single for the Lightning with nobody on base in the bottom of the fourth but then Petraitis got a ground ball to the left side during the next at bat and Nevins, second baseman Drew Carroll and Roden spun a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
 
Nevins and Roden once again manufactured a go-ahead run in the top of the fifth. With two outs and nobody on, Nevins hit a fly ball all the way to the wall in the right-center field gap for his second double of the game, then following Goldey-Beacom's first pitching change, Roden swung at the first pitch he saw and ripped a ground ball up the middle to drive in Nevins and record his fourth RBI of the game.
 
Keneston doubled down the left field line during the next at bat to put runners on second and third with two outs, then senior center fielder Zach Brush (New York Mills, N.Y./New York Mills) hit a hard ground ball down the first base line, but Goldey-Beacom's Marlon Lindsey Jr. quickly moved to his left and went to the ground to keep the ball in front, then hustled to first and stepped on the bag to end the inning and strand both runners on base.
 
Kampes reached base to lead off the bottom of the fifth, but then Ries threw him out trying to steal second during the next at bat to record the first out of the inning. Swiencicki then recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame.

Goldey-Beacom put the tying run on second base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, then Swiencicki got a fly ball to left field to end the inning and maintain Le Moyne's one-run lead.
 
Ries delivered a one-out single through the left side in the top of the eighth to give Le Moyne their first base runner of the inning, then the left-handed hitting Sullivan slapped a double down the line in left field to give Le Moyne runners on first and third.
 
Right fielder Wyatt Patchett (Geneva, N.Y./Geneva) stepped to the plate next and the first pitch thrown to him bounced to the left of the plate. The ball got away from the catcher, and Ries dashed towards home. The play at the plate was close, but Ries avoided the tag and touched home to double Le Moyne's lead.
 
With Sullivan on third base, Patchett hit a ground ball to the right of the shortstop. As the shortstop charged towards the ball, Sullivan faked towards home, which captured his attention for an extra second. Patchett hustled down the line and beat the throw to the bag for an infield single.
 
Still with one out and runners on first and third, Egenhauser stepped to the plate and pushed a sacrifice bunt to the left of the pitcher, which drove in Sullivan and gave the Dolphins a 6-3 lead.
 
Lindsey delivered a leadoff double for the Lightning in the bottom of the eighth. Swiencicki got an infield pop up for the first out of the inning, but then Johnson hit a single to left field to give GBC runners on first and third with one out. Johnson stole second during the next at bat, but Swiencicki got a flyout to left field – which was not hit deep enough for Lindsey to tag up and score on – for the second out of the inning. Swiencicki got ahead 0 and 1 against Kolmansberger, but Goldey-Beacom's shortstop came up clutch with a line drive up the middle that knocked in both runners to reduce their deficit to one run. Boyle then entered the game and struck out the nine-hitter to end the inning and strand the tying run on base.
 
Nevins led off the top of the ninth for the 'Phins and tallied his fourth base hit of the day with a line drive that dropped in front of the center fielder. Drzemiecki retired the next two Le Moyne hitters, then Kampes threw out Nevins trying to steal second to end the inning.
 
Down to their final three outs, Goldey-Beacom had the top of their order due up in the bottom of the ninth. Petrillo hit a hard ground ball to the left side of the infield, but Nevins fielded the ball cleanly and quickly fired to first for the first out of the inning. The Lightning put the tying run on base with one out after Kampes ripped a single through the left side. With Walker at the plate, Kampes tried to steal second base, but Ries fired down to the bag and Carroll applied the tag in time to record the second out of the inning and clear the bases. Walker kept the Lightning's hopes alive with a double to left-center field, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate.
 
Lindsey fell behind in the count 1 and 2, but then he hit a hard ground ball to the right of Egenhauser at third base. The ball skipped across the turf quickly, and Le Moyne's rookie third baseman had to field it backhand. Egenhauser attempted the backhand sccop, but he couldn't field it cleanly and the ball popped into the air. With Lindsey flying down the line, Egenhauser smoothly grabbed the ball out of the air with his right hand, aligned his feet towards first and fired a pinpoint laser across the diamond in time to record the final out of the game and officially send Le Moyne through to the East Super Regional.
 
The Dolphins 26-man roster dogpiled on the pitcher's mound to celebrate the East Regional #2 title.
 
Additional quotes following the game: 
From Dewey Roden - "I think the biggest thing today was responding. Yesterday we were in a dogfight and they came out on top, but today every time they threw a punch we were just ready to return it, and one through nine [in the lineup] we were ready to swing it, and we kept picking each other up."
 
From Benji Ries - "We're really tight, really tight. On and off the field having fun with each other, spending time with each other. We have a pretty short roster this year but that just makes us even closer, this is a special group and we're going to keep chugging along... (we're going to) spend a little time celebrating the regional, then you gotta reset because you have a really good team in Southern New Hampshire and we have a three-game series for the rest of our lives. So, we'll take it one game at a time. We'll enjoy (today's win) for a little bit, and then we gotta get back to work."
 
From Coach Cassidy - "It feels great. These kids worked their butts off all year to get here. We started off slow during the year, we were actually .500 after 30 games, and then they just clicked together and put a great season on towards the end and got hot when they needed to. It's a great feeling."

Coach Cassidy on the pitching strategy for the title game: "We were fortunate earlier in the tournament to have a complete game. Sammy (DiGeorge) gave us a huge day with no bullpen use, and then we didn't use too many (relief pitchers) yesterday. So, we had a lot of guys available [on Sunday]. We went with our freshman, AJ. Out of the gate he gave us four great innings and then we came with another freshman who had not pitched a lot this tournament, so we were in pretty good shape. And then we get the ball to Jed, we think he can finish most games that he's in, so it kinda worked out really well for us against a really good hitting team."

Coach Cassidy on the team's ability to deliver hits with two outs:  "Our guys are gritty, they like to grind out the at bats. That's what we try to teach them, or preach anyway, is to grind it out, try to go get yours early in the count, and then when you fall behind then work an at bat and try to find a way on base, whether it's a hit, walk, hit by pitch, whatever. But they've really taken to that and, you know, we had some really clutch hitting from the guys in our lineup like Nick Nevins and Dewey Roden and Brody Keneston all weekend. So it's been a really good team effort all the way around and I'm pretty pumped about it."
 
On the team's defense: "We've been pretty strong defensively for the last several years. We're fortunate where we have some senior leadership up the middle with Nevins and Carroll. Dewey was fantastic at first base, especially yesterday, with some great picks over there. We try to teach the pitchers: throw strikes, let the ball get put in play, because we'll trust the guys behind us, and they came up big [this weekend]…. One thing that's really good about this team is they never think they're down. If something goes wrong early in the game, we know we can battle back, we've done it in the past.

The East Region's top-seeded team SNHU earned the right to host the three-game Super Regional after besting fifth-seeded Pace University and fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce University in East Regional #1 on Thursday and Friday.

The winner of the East Super Regional on May 26 and 27 at Southern New Hampshire will advance to the eight-team NCAA Championship Finals at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina from June 3-10.