Baseball Begins GNAC Title Defense at Lasell Saturday

BOSTON – The GNAC title defense for the Suffolk baseball team begins this weekend with a doubleheader at Lasell Saturday afternoon.  

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LAST TIME OUT
The Suffolk baseball team used a two-run ninth inning to secure an 8-6 victory at Curry Thursday afternoon.

After the Colonels jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first inning, Suffolk stayed in the game thanks to four home runs one each from Jake Frasca, Matt Brenner, Seth Coiley and Drew Carter. Carter's monster hit that cleared the center field fence gave the Rams a 5-4 lead heading into eighth, but Curry responded with a run on a passed ball.

In the ninth inning, Suffolk capitalized on the same mistake that just cost them a run, to bally one itself and retake the lead, 6-5 and went on to score two more for the final 8-6 triumph.  

MORE READING: Two-Run Ninth Inning Pushes Baseball Past Curry

RUN DOWN ON THE RAMS
Sitting at 13-4 after its Spring Break trip and six road non-conference contests in New England, the Rams are prepped for GNAC ball.

A trio of Rams have started in the field all 17 games this season, each of whom bring a fair amount of production at the plate as well Drew Carter (.439/.614/.543) at third, Jon Lapolla (.394/.535/.408) at first and behind the plate and Brady Chant (.375/.556/.432) in center have all seen every game for Suffolk.

Carter paces the Rams with the second-best batting average in the league .439, off 25 hits, seven of which are doubles, adding 16 RBI and 11 runs score. Co-captain Lapolla is batting the eighth-best in the conference (.394), and has plated a team-high 19 RBI and has scored a team-best 17 times himself. Seeing every game at second and starting 15 is Jake Frasca, who is hitting .406, which ranks fifth in the conference and second on the team. The freshman has brought in 15 runs on his 26 hits, seven of which were doubles.

On the bump, the Rams feature a deadly six starters in Worth Walrod (3-0, 1.35 ERA), Chuck Gibson (2-0, 1.64 ERA), Kevin Sinatra (3-0, 2.12 ERA), Tim Conroy (2-0, 4.50 ERA), Kyle Turner (1-2, 4.97 ERA) and Ryan Pordesb (0-2, 5.79 ERA). Turner and Gibson are one-two in strikeouts this season for the Rams' hurlers, punching out 24 and 22 batters, respectively. Cal Carroll has seen action in seven games, picking up one win and three saves with seven Ks. 

HERO OF THE WEEK
Jon Lapolla continues to have a superior senior season as the Providence, Rhode Island native won this past week's national poll conducted by HeroSports.com as the National Offensive HERO of the Week in Division III baseball.

Lapolla was nominated for the honor last week on the heels of a 6-2 second Spring Break leg for the Rams and his first GNAC Corvias Player of the Week accolade of his storied career. The 6-foor-2 infielder beat out his competition, grabbing 87 percent of the votes, more than 130 than the second-place finisher with 146 of the near 200 submitted.

MORE READING: Lapolla Wins Vote, Named HeroSports DIII Offensive HERO of the Week  

IMPROVING THIEVES
Last season Suffolk stole 54 bases all year, but in just its first 17 games this season, the Rams have successfully stolen 39 bags, the most in the GNAC and have been caught in the act just 10 times. On the flip side, Suffolk opponents have just 17 steals in 22 attempts.

Jon Lapolla's team-best eight steals are good for third amongst GNAC players with Brady Chant's six coming in fourth in the conference. Seth Coiley and Rob Marks are also in the league's top ten stealers, grabbing four each to tie for seventh.

THE .300 CLUB
Nearing the midpoint of the season, five Rams' batters are swinging the bat well, hitting .350 or better in 2.5 dish appearances per game: Drew Carter (.439), Brady Chant (.375), Jake Frasca (.406), Jon Lapolla (.394) and Rob Marks (.364).

The three top hitters for Suffolk – Carter, Frasca and Lapolla – rank amongst the GNAC's best bats in batting average. Carter is second (.439), Frasca is tied for fifth (.406) and Lapolla is eighth (.394).

TEN HITS AND COUNTING
The Rams have put together double-digit hits in 76.4 percent (13-17) of their games this season, including seven straight contests with double figure hits from March 16 through March 26.  Suffolk is averaging 11.8 hits per game, the most in the GNAC, this season. The Rams' produced a season-best 23 in an 18-4 win against Clarkson March 13, the most by the blue-and-gold since it tallied 26 over Norwich three years ago (April 24, 2013). 

CORVIAS ECAC DIII ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
After turning in a five-run, four-RBI performance over the course of Suffolk baseball's three wins last week, the ECAC recognized Jake Frasca as Division III New England Rookie of the Week.

MORE READING: Frasca Recognized as Corvias ECAC DIII Rookie of the Week  

WEEKLY HONORS
For the past three weeks a Suffolk baseball player has been recognized for their efforts by the GNAC with the Rams earning 41.6 percent (5-for-12) of the conference's weekly awards so far this season. Worth Walrod's two pitcher of the week accolades lead the way with Jon Lapolla earning a player of the week nod March 21. Jake Frasca and Kevin Sinatra each picked up their first weekly award of their collegiate careers with Frasca being named the best rookie over a seven day stretch and Sinatra being tabbed the best hurler March 28.

WALKIN' OFF
Senior co-captain Jon Lapolla's two-out, RBI double in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Suffolk past Montclair State, 4-3 in a walk-off win. The Rams had two walk-off victories in 2015, with the most important coming in the 13th inning over Johnson & Wales in the GNAC Championship game. 

LOOK AT THE LASERS
Lasell (8-8) has won four of its last five heading into conference play including a 4-1 victory in its last outing at Emerson March 31.

Wes Hurty is pacing the Lasers' offense, hitting .415 with a homer and 17 RBI. Skyler Beckerman and Brett Sherron each have 18 hits to their credit with Beckerman playing 10 runs and Sherron bringing in 12. Hurty, Beckerman and Sherron have each crossed home nine times apiece, while Tyler Flaherty (.263) boasts a team-best 15 runs.  

Lasell's main starter Josh Bahnick is 1-2 with a .366 ERA to go with eight strikeouts in 19.2 innings of work. Casey Johnson (2-1) and Gary Trottier (1-2) have each started on the hill three times for the Lasers. Johnson boasts a 7.65 ERA in 20 innings, but has the most fanned the most (19), Trottier (7.65 ERA), meanwhile, has seen the most competition with seven appearances. 

COMING UP
Suffolk takes a trip to the North Shore Tuesday to meet Endicott at 3:30 p.m.