HAVERHILL, Mass. – Lesley University and Newbury College split a pair of pitcher's duels on a chilly night tonight at Trinity Park in Haverhill, Mass. The Lynx move to 4-7 overall as they open up New England Collegiate Conference play at 1-1 on the year while the Nighthawks move to 6-9 on the season and 2-4 in conference play.
Lesley University freshman Tom Muratore (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) twirled a gem for the Lynx in the opening game, limiting the Nighthawks to just two hits, two walks while striking out six in the complete game shutout. The two hits allowed ties the Lynx record for least hits allowed in a game while the complete-game shutout was just the second in Lesley program history. The rookie moves to 2-0 on the young season.
Newbury senior Danny Lumb (Stoneham, Mass.) nearly matched Muratore as he went the distance yielding just the one run on four hits and one walk. Lumb recorded six strikeouts in the game as he falls to 1-3.
Lynx senior John Gosnell (Toronto, Ont.) supplied what turned into the game-winning run in the bottom of the second inning as he connected for a two-out double to left field that plated sophomore Mike Slaby (Foxboro, Mass.). Slaby started the two-out rally with a ground rule double to right field.
Newbury had the game-tying run in scoring position in the top of the seventh as junior Craig Barnett (Victoria, Australia) reached on a two-out single and immediately stole second base, but Muratore stranded Barnett there as he punched out the final batter to secure the win.
Nighthawks senior Ryan Sinclair (Portsmouth, R.I.) backed up Lumb's game start with a strong performance of his own in game two. The 6-2 right-hander hurled 6.2 innings, scattering six hits and walking one while allowing just three runs (two earned) and striking out three to pick up his first win of the year.
Fellow senior Lyndon Brundige (Rockland, Mass.) came in to record the final out of the game to earn his second save of the season.
Lesley freshman Bryan Hildebrand (Milford, Mass.) took the bump for the Lynx, tossing a complete game allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits while striking out three and walking one. Hildebrand falls to 0-1 on the season in the loss.
Newbury wasted little time in getting on board as they pushed across the game's first run in the top of the second inning. Freshman Matthew Sobray (Santa Clarita, Calif.) led off the inning with a single and quickly moved to second on a passed ball. The rookie moved to third on a groundout and came in on a Lesley throwing error on a ball hit by Barnett. Barnett scooted all the way over to third on the error and came in on a single by freshman Matthew Peluso (Woodbridge, Ont.).
Sobray scored Newbury's third run of the game in the top of the fourth as he reached on an error to lead off the inning, stole second, moved to third on a balk and crossed the dish on a sacrifice fly to right field off the bat of freshman Billy Stephen (Windermere, Fla.).
The Nighthawks added one more run in the fifth as junior Ryan Zahornasky (Shelton, Conn.) sent a two-out, RBI single to right field that plated senior Steven Broy (Gorham, Maine).
The Lynx would not go down quietly, however, as their bats came alive in the bottom of the seventh inning. Gosnell started the rally with a single with one out before senior Ray Cohen (Coventry, Conn.) reached on an error. The Lynx loaded the bases as freshman Nick Iadevaio (Mineola, N.Y.) drew a walk before junior Gustavo Polidor (Caracas, Venezuela) delivered a two-run single to left as Lesley cut the Newbury lead to 4-2.
After the pitching change that saw Brundige relieve Sinclair, Lesley junior Casey Blanchard (Bernardston, Mass.) plated another run with a single up the middle to pull the Lynx within one. With the tying run standing on second base, Brudige got a fly ball to centerfield as the Nighthawks hung on to split the day.
The teams will play the rubber game of the three-game set tomorrow night back at Trinity Field. First pitch is set for 7:00p.