Springfield, Mass. (April 2) -- Senior Travis Smith (Coventry, R.I. / Bishop Hendricken) led the Assumption College baseball team to a 6-5 victory over American International College at AIC Park on Tuesday afternoon. Smith went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI in the win.

The Greyhounds took the first lead with a run in the top of the first inning. Smith led off the inning with a double to left center field. He advanced on a ground out before scoring on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Billy Johnson (Auburn, Mass. / Holy Name).

The Yellow Jackets evened the score in the bottom of the frame. Sophomore Zack LaRosa (West Hartford, Conn. / Conard) allowed a leadoff single and after wild pitch, back-to-back ground outs tied the game. LaRosa earned the win, pitching 6.1 innings of four-run ball, allowing only two hits while striking out nine. The sophomore had a few control problems, allowing five walks in the win.

The Greyhounds had a chance to jump ahead in the top of the second after  a one-out single by senior catcher Joe Lopes(Warwick, R.I. / Bishop Hendricken) was followed by a walk by graduate student Ben Benigno (Trumbull, Conn. / Trumbull) but back-to-back strikeouts ended the Assumption scoring threat and stranded a pair of runners.

After a 1-2-3 inning for LaRosa, the Greyhounds scored three runs in the top of the third to take a 4-1 lead. Smith and Shane Keddy (Worcester, Mass. / Worcester Tech) started the inning with back-to-back singles. Johnson sacrifice bunted to advance the runners to second and third and the next batter, senior left fielder Nick Napoli (Medford, Mass. / Boston College) drove in Smith with a ground out to the second baseman. Sophomore first baseman Greg O'Donnell (Northbridge, Mass. / Northbridge) followed that up with a double to the gap between right and center to drive in Keddy and give the Greyhounds a 3-1 edge. Benigno continued the Greyhound rally with a single to left-center to drive in O'Donnell.

The Greyhounds had a chance to extend the lead in the top of the fifth but freshman Colin Clancy (Chelmsford, Mass. / Chelmsford) lined out with two outs and the bases loaded to end the threat.

The Yellow Jackets finally broke through against LaRosa in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-out rally. LaRosa hurt himself with a two-out bases loaded walk before allowing a two-run single into right field to even the score at four through five innings.

The Greyhounds went back ahead in the top of the seventh inning after a leadoff Johnson reached on an error by the first baseman to start the inning. With two outs he advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single to left field by Lopes.

Junior Cody Rocha (Fall River, Mass. / BMC Durfee) came into the game with one out in the bottom of the seventh in relief of LaRosa and after allowing a single to the first batter he faced to put runners on first and second, he retired the next two to get out of the jam and preserve the Greyhounds 5-4 lead.

Smith continued his strong day in the top of the eighth inning with a one-out single up the middle, driving in pinch-runner Ryan Connelly (West Roxbury, Mass. / Boston Latin). Smith picked up his fourth hit of the day to finish 4-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI. Connolly ran for Benigno, who drew a leadoff walk to start the inning. The run gave the Greyhounds a little insurance and a 6-4 lead.

The Yellow Jackets cut the Greyhound lead in half with a run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Two of the first three batters reached for the Yellow Jackets to start the inning giving the home team runners on first and second with one out.

Senior Dan Bradley (Moodus, Conn. / Nathan Hale Ray) entered the game to pitch for Assumption and gave up an RBI single to the first batter he faced, but the second runner, Zack Kane, was gunned down at the plate by Keddy. A fly out by the next batter preserved the lead at one, 6-5.

Bradley also worked the bottom of the ninth to earn his third save of the season. Overall, the senior worked 1.2 innings of one-hit ball to earn the save.

Assumption improves to 6-16 overall on the season but holds an important 2-1 record in Northeast-10 Conference divisional play, while American International falls to 10-9 overall.

The Greyhounds will return to action on Saturday, April 6th as Assumption will travel to Saint Michael's College to take on the Purple Knights. The game will begin at 12 p.m. in Colchester, Vt.

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