BOSTON, Mass. - The Suffolk University Baseball team used an 18-hit attack to top Lasell College 14-3 on Wednesday evening to open the 2014 ECAC Division-III New England Championship Tournament.
Suffolk scored at least one run in each of the first seven innings as all nine starters in the lineup had at least one hit on the evening.
Freshman Matt Brenner (Eliot, Me.) led the way with a 4-for-5 evening that included a pair of doubles as he drove in two and scored three times.
Suffolk staked themselves to a 5-0 lead in the first as senior Devan Jones(Roslindale, Mass.) opened the barrage with an RBI single to left. SophomoreRob Marks (Revere, Mass.) would pick up his first of three hits on the night as he drove in the second run of the inning. Jones would scamper home later in the frame on a passed ball before senior Mike Muse (Milton, Mass.) doubled down the right field line to bring home two more making it a five run game after one inning of play.
Marks would finish the evening 3-for-5 with three RBI, while senior Jake Cintolo(Wrentham, Mass.) was 2-for-4 with a pair of walks.
Senior Mac Jacobson (Norfolk, Mass.) was 2-for-4 on the evening with an RBI single in the third as he also scored two runs. Sophomore Jon Lapolla(Providence, R.I.) added an RBI double in the fourth as part of a 2-for-4 effort at the plate. Junior Justin Knight (Hackettstown, N.J.) also added two hits on the evening while fellow classmate JC Collette (Amesbury, Mass.) scored two runs and added an RBI.
Junior Frank Tierney (Hyde Park, Mass.) improved to a 3-1 record on the mound as he went the first seven innings. Tierney ran into some trouble in the second allowing three runs to score but cruised throughout the evening. He struck out six while allowing just six hits. Junior Paul Pollano (North Andover, Mass.) and senior Jhonneris Mendez (Boston, Mass.) combined to pitch two scoreless frames as each took an inning of work to close things out.
With the victory Suffolk improves to a 24-14-1 record on the season.
Suffolk entered the eight team single elimination tournament as the number three seed and will now play number two seed Salve Regina University who defeated Fitchburg State University by a same 14-3 score in their quarterfinals game.
Saturday's semifinals game will be played at Roger Williams University as first pitch is schedule for 3:00pm.
*Release courtesy of Suffolk University Sports Information Dept.