Dest's Three-Run Walk-Off Homer Helps Baseball Salvage Split with St. Anselm's.

BOX SCORE GAME 1       BOX SCORE GAME 2

Springfield, Mass. (April 21, 2007) - David Dest's (Orange, Conn.) walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth-inning helped American International College grab the second game of a doubleheader with Northeast-10 rival St. Anselm's 11-10, Saturday afternoon. The Hawks, who were victorious in the first contest 9-6, after trailing by six runs move to 6-22 overall and 6-15 in the Northeast-10. With the split, the Yellow Jackets move to 8-19 on the season and 4-13 in the Northeast-10. 

Game one saw AIC jump out to a 6-0 lead behind four RBI's from Andrew Martirano (Yonkers, NY) who crushed a two-run home-run over the left-field fence in the second inning and doubled in a pair of runs in the fifth.

The Hawks tied the game up in the top half of the six inning, scoring six runs, five of them earned. With the game tied in the eighth Saint Anselm tallied three runs giving them a 9-6 advantage they would hold for the remainder of the contest. Wayne MacKay, Shane Masotta and Tom Sheehan each recorded two RBI's for the Hawks. Brett Cooley (Somers, Conn.) took the loss for AIC while Myke Fortier (Andover, Mass.) was the winning pitcher for Saint Anselm's. 

The Yellow Jackets would return the favor in the nightcap. AIC trailed by six runs, until they plated seven batters in the bottom half of the seventh inning to gain a 7-6 advantage. The Hawks regained the lead in the next half-inning scoring three times and taking a two-run advantage. St. Anselm's would add one more run in the top half of the ninth. The score stood at 10-7 going into the Yellow Jacket's final at-bat. Tyler Cooke led off the inning with a walk and scored after Kevin Farrell (Wilbraham, Mass.) doubled into the right-center field gap. After a Matt Rhodes walk Dest crushed a Max Vigliotti offering over the 325 sign in right field, giving AIC the victory.

Kyle Paton (Westfield, Mass.) had three hits including two RBI's while Bryan Turney (Auburn, Mass.) chipped in with a pair of hits and two RBI's as well in the victory. 

Mike Lavato (Springfield, Mass) picked up the win for the Yellow Jackets while Vigliotti was burdened with the loss for the Hawks.

AIC will travel to St. Anselm's tomorrow for a single game, slated for a 1:00 start.  

-AIC-