HAVERHILL, Mass. -- Lesley University found themselves on the losing end of the rubber match of a three-game set with Newbury College in New England Collegiate Conference action tonight at Trinity Stadium in Haverhill, Mass. The Nighthawks improve to 7-9 overall and 3-4 in NECC play with the win while the Lynx fall to 4-8 on the year and 1-2 in the conference.
One day after earning his second save of the season, Newbury senior Lyndon Brundige (Rockland, Mass.) earned the win after pitching two innings of relief while junior Craig Barnett (Victoria, Australia) earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
Trailing 5-4, Lesley scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning to claim a 6-5 edge. Senior Tyler Plourd (Canton, Conn.) started the rally with an infield single and moved into scoring position on an error on the play. A wild pitch would move Plourd to third and he then came around on a single by classmate Joe Muratore (Mamaroneck, N.Y.). Muratore would move to third base following a wild pitch and a single by John Gosnell (Toronto, Ont.) and crossed the plate on Newbury's third wild pitch of the inning to give the Lynx the 6-5 lead.
The one run advantage would not last as the Nighthawks answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Freshman Billy Stephen (Windermere, Fla.) delivered a two out, two run single before fellow freshman Matthew Peluso (Woodbridge, Ont.) followed with an RBI single to stake an 8-6 lead that they would not relinquish.
After Newbury scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Lynx offense battled back to tie it with two runs of their own in the top of the second. Freshman Nick Iadevaio (Mineola, N.Y.) and junior Gustavo Polidor (Caracas, Venezuela) each delivered RBI base hits for the Lynx in the inning.
The Lynx would take advantage of a pair of Nighthawk miscues as they scored a run in each the fourth and fifth to take a 4-2 edge. Newbury answered back immediately with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to reclaim a 5-4 edge.
Newbury starter Ethan Forrest (E. Bridgewater, Mass.) pitched well for the Nighthawks, hurling six innings while giving up eight hits and five runs (three earned) and striking out five.
Gosnell led the Lynx offense as he finished 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored while Muratore and classmate Adam Ciampi (Westford, Mass.) each added two hits.
Newbury's Ryan Zahornasky (Shelton, Conn.) went a perfect 4-for-4 on the day with a pair of doubles and a run scored while Stephen and Steven Broy (Gorham, Maine) each had three hits for the Nighthawks.
The Lynx will return to play on Wednesday night as they will battle Framingham State University in a non-conference affair at 7:00p at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Mass.