BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Lesley University baseball team dropped the opener of a three game series with Southern Vermont College in New England Collegiate Conference action this afternoon at Bill Epstein Field. The loss, which snaps a four game conference winning streak for the Lynx, drops Lesley to 6-9 on the season and 5-4 in NECC play. The Mountaineers move to 10-15 overall and 3-6 in the conference.

Southern Vermont starter Dylan Angelo (Ft. Johnson, N.Y.) clogged the Lesley offense in the complete-game effort, limiting the Lynx to just five hits, two runs (one earned), and striking out four.

Lesley freshman Mike Slaby (Foxboro, Mass.) led the offense for the visitors with a pair of hits, extending his hitting streak to a career-best five games. Senior Tyler Plourd (Canton, Conn.) and junior David Hersey (Wolfeboro, N.H.) each picked up a hit and an RBI in the loss. Plourd has now hit safely in five of his last six games.

The Lynx got on the board first in the top of the first inning. After sophomore Casey Blanchard (Bernardston, Mass.) reached on an error, senior Kevin Hopwood (Winter Haven, Fla.) drew a two-out walk and Slaby loaded the bases with a single. Hersey and Plourd then followed with back-to-back RBI singles to give the Lynx a 2-0 advantage.

Angelo limited the damage and stranded the bases loaded as he escaped the jam by getting a ground-out to end the inning.

The lead would not last long for the Lynx as the Mountaineers answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. The first five SVC batters of the inning reached base before sophomore Quinten Scott (Ashaway, R.I.) singled in classmate RJ Pingitore (Amsterdam, N.Y.) to allow the hosts to jump ahead 3-2.

The Mountaineers would not trail again as Angelo yielded just three hits the rest of the way.

SVC would add runs in five of the next seven innings to cruise to a 12-2 victory. The Mountaineers slugged a season-high 22 hits on the afternoon with most of the damage coming from the top third of the lineup. Juniors Sal Sciara (Massapequa, N.Y.), Chris Nicastro Jr. (Kenilworth, N.J.), and Pingitore combined for 11 hits, nine RBI, and five runs scored to power the offense.

Lynx starter John Gosnell (Toronto, Ont.) was charged with his first loss of the season, tossing three innings while being charged with five runs.

The two teams will complete the three game series tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader starting at 12:00p.