MELROSE, Mass. - The NEC baseball team worked a split with Lasell University on Sunday at Kezer Field in Melrose, Massachusetts as they claimed game one, 10-5, earning the win in extras as the team hit four home runs, including three in a five-run eighth inning. 

Game 1 – NEC 10, Lasell 5 

Lasell put up a run in the bottom of the first of game number one which was scheduled to be a seven-inning game. NEC quickly responded in the top of the second as junior Mike Monteforte (Wilmington, Mass.) led off the inning with a walk, followed by freshman Dillan Abbate (Port Jervis, N.Y.) who reached on a single. After Monteforte scored on a fielder's choice, freshman TJ Hicks (Tampa, Fla.) gave the 'Grims a 3-1 lead as he smacked a 1-2 pitch for the first home run of his collegiate career. 

Still in the second, senior Nick Hernandez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) kept things going with a single to center field. With two outs, on the 12th pitch of his battle against Lasell starter, Luke Descheneaux, graduate Brady Philibotte (Weare, N.H.) delivered an RBI double to deep center field to score Hernandez and put NEC up three. 

The Lasers countered with two runs in the bottom of the second, one in the third, and one more in the fourth to take the lead. Lasell would hold a 5-4 lead entering the top of the seventh inning where senior Ryan Cote (Goffstown, N.H.) worked a walk and sophomore Bobby Trigilio (Chicopee, Mass.) singled to put the tying run 90 feet away.  

Derrick Dellea entered into the game for the Lasers in a save situation but allowed Cote to score on a wild pitch to send the game tied into the bottom of the seventh. NEC senior Brendan Hill (Lincoln, R.I.), who had entered in relief in the sixth, pitched a clean seventh to send the game to extras. 

In the eighth, graduate Tyler Fenton (Wilmington, Mass.) launched his first home run in a Pilgrim uniform to snatch a 6-5 lead. Three batters later, Philibotte crushed a three-run shot to give the 'Grims a four-run cushion. Bryce Isquith replaced Dellea out of the Laser bullpen, and Isquith's first pitch was lasered over the outfield fence by sophomore Benoit Beaudoin (Meredith, N.H.) for his first career long ball.  

Hill set down the hosts in order in the bottom of the eighth to earn the victory. The senior went two-and-two-thirds innings while allowing just one base runner and punching out three. Dellea was handed the loss for Lasell. 

Game 2 – NEC 0, Lasell 12 

After the Pilgrims roared back to claim game one, Lasell would rebound to take game two. After being held scoreless after the first two innings, the Lasers would erupt for five runs in the third, a run in the fourth, and three runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings. Lasell starter Benjamin Conlon was effective, holding NEC to five hits across five-and-two-thirds innings.  

Hicks went 1-for-3 with a double – the team's lone extra base hit of game two. Hernandez also went 1-for-3, lacing four hits on the day. Cote added a hit and a walk in the night cap, reaching base six times between the two games with two runs scored. 

The Pilgrims will host the University of Saint Joseph (CT) on Pappas Field on the campus of Franklin Pierce University next Saturday, March 28th, with first pitch of the doubleheader set for 12:00 PM. 

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