Lasell Baseball falls in doubleheader against New England College

HAVERHILL, Mass. – Freshman Shayne Audet (Springfield, Mass.) tossed a one-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts in seven innings Saturday evening to lead New England College to a doubleheader sweep of Lasell College in a non-conference college baseball doubleheader at Haverhill Stadium.

Audet walked five but allowed only a one-out single by freshman Sean Doris (Lincoln, R.I.) in the fifth inning as the Pilgrims won the opener, 6-0. NEC then plated five runs in the top of the sixth inning of the nightcap to break a 1-1 tie and went on to take the second game, 6-4.

The Pilgrims got all the offense they would need in the opener with four runs in the third inning, including RBI singles by senior Justin Carey (Amherst, Mass.) and junior Xavier Nunez (Lawrence, Mass.) Audet did the rest, fanning 13, including retiring the side on strikeouts in the second inning and whiffing two in an inning four times.

NEC put up one run without a hit in the first inning of the nightcap when Christian Aybar walked, stole second and third, and came home on an infield grounder. Lasell answered in the bottom of the third when Doris walked and later came home on a Pilgrim error.

With the scored still tied 1-1 in the sixth inning, NEC produced a five-run rally, keyed by an RBI single by Nunez and capped by a three-run home run by sophomore Nick Powers (Malden, Mass.)

Lasell made a comeback attempt in the bottom of the seventh inning. Juniors David Marsell (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) and Rob Cutone (Tewksbury, Mass.) had RBI singles in the rally, but Marsell was cut down at the plate on a throw by Powers from right field and the next batter grounded out to end the game.

Junior Dan Petr (East Haven, Conn.) allowed just two hits and one run through the first five innings but suffered the loss after getting tagged for four runs in the sixth. Sophomore Joseph Pascucci (Wayne, N.J.) earned the win for NEC with three scoreless innings of relief.

The Lasers are scheduled to play home games this week against Pine Manor College on Tuesday, March 27 (7:00 p.m.) and Gordon College on Thursday, March 29 (7:00 p.m.), weather and field conditions permitting at Brandeis University, Lasell's home field. NEC will face Nichols College on Monday, March 26, at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Mass.

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