GAME OVERVIEW:

NORTHBOROUGH, MA. – The Lesley Lynx baseball team split their opening doubleheader with the Elms Blazers on Thursday, losing game one by a score of 8-5 and taking the second 6-2. Both teams start the season at 1-1.

INSIDE GAME 1:

• The Blazers got out ahead early, putting three runs on the board in the top of the first inning against Lynx starter Michael Tres. Nathan Ayala drove in two with a double in that inning.
• The Lynx tied it up in the second inning, with back-to-back doubles by Giovanni Torres and Ian Spillane. Torres was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored in game 1.
• Elms responded with two runs of their own in the top of the third, but the Lynx kept it close when Michael Fiorelli scored on a Ronnie James groundout in the bottom of the inning.
• Blazers starter Damon Wesley was able to limit the Lynx from then on, with Austin Roy coming in to finish off the final two innings. Wesley struck out seven batters over five innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs.
• Tres picked up the loss for the Lynx, allowing seven runs over 4.1 innings. Jonathan Truscott took over the final 2.2 and allowed one run while striking out two.
• Ayala and Seamus Higgins each had two hits to lead the Blazers, with Ayala driving in three runs and Higgins sending home two. Spillane and James each had two RBI for the Lynx.

INSIDE GAME 2:

• Steven DePalma was dominant on the mound for the Lynx in game 2. He allowed one earned run and five hits over a complete game, racking up twelve strikeouts. DePalma was also 1-for-2 at the plate, with a walk and an RBI.
• Torres and Spillane started the offense for the Lynx, with the former scoring on the latter's double to open the game. DePalma then drove in Spillane to help himself before even stepping on the mound.
• The Lynx scored three more in the second inning when Gabriel Coyne-Martinez and Chris Papallo each scored on wild pitches. Fiorelli later drove Torres in on a sacrifice fly.
• Lesley's final run came in a wild sequence in the fourth inning. Spillane hit a pop-up to left field that found turf and managed to take two extra bases on a throwing error by the Blazers' left fielder, completing an error-assisted run aroudn the bases.
• DePalma picked up the win for the Lynx, while Elms' starter Dominick Whalen took the loss, despite also offering a complete game effort. Whalen allowed six runs (four earned) and stuck out eight Lynx.

UP NEXT:

The Lynx travel to Chicopee for another doubleheader against the Blazers, with the first game starting at 12 PM.