LAKEWOOD, Fla. – Ray Cohen's (Coventry, Conn.) walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning led Lesley University to a 3-2 win in the opening game of a doubleheader with Utica College this afternoon at Henley Field in Lakeland, Fla. The Lynx dropped game two 2-0 leading the two schools to split the twin-billing.
The Lynx will be off on Tuesday before returning to action on Wednesday with a doubleheader against Keene State College starting at 9:00a at Chain of Lakes Park. Please click here for a live broadcast of those games.
Game One: Utica 2, Lesley 3 (Final – 8 innings)
Lesley needed some last inning magic as the Lynx found themselves trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh. After Utica starter Joshua Webb induced a groundball to start the inning, Lesley junior Gustavo Polidor (Caracas, Venezuela) connected for a triple to put him on third base with one out. Fellow junior Casey Blanchard (Bernardston, Mass.) delivered the clutch hit as his single brought Polidor home to force extra-innings.
Cohen's late two-out heroics in the eighth came after freshman Nick Iadevaio (Mineola, N.Y.) reached on an error an advanced to second following a stolen base. After a walk was delivered to senior Adam Ciampi (Westford, Mass.), Iadevaio moved to third base following a pass ball before coming in on Cohen's drive to the gap, delivering the Lynx the win.
Lesley freshman Jeff Heinz (Portsmouth, Mass.) relieved sophomore starter Matt O'Donnell (Somerville, Mass.) in the extra inning and enjoyed a 1-2-3 eighth in his first career appearance to earn the win.
O'Donnell was excellent in his first start of the spring for the Lynx, holding the Pioneers scoreless after the first inning. The sophomore limited Utica to just five hits while striking out a career-high six batters.
The Lynx put together 14 hits in the game – their fifth straight game with ten or more hits – led by a perfect 4-for-4 performance by senior Joe Muratore (Mamaroneck, N.Y.). Polidor and Blanchard each collected three hits while Plourd finished the game going 2-for-4.
Game Two: Lesley 0, Utica 2
Utica starter Stephen Szatko silenced the hot Lesley bats in game two, earning the win in the complete game shutout yielding just two hits and one walk while striking out five. The senior hurler faced just one batter over the minimum in the game.
Lesley sophomore nearly matched Szatko's start, going the distance while limiting the Pioneers to just two runs (both unearned) and five hits while striking out four.
The Pioneers plated one in the bottom of the first before adding another in the bottom of the third inning to serve the offense.
Polidor and Plourd both had hits for the Lynx as they extended their hitting streaks to five and six games, respectively.