PHILADELPHIA – The Niagara Purple Eagles dropped both games of the doubleheader to the La Salle Explorers on Sunday afternoon in the final two games of the Philly Big 5 Tournament.
Game OneDown 4-0 after the first, the Purple Eagles got on the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. With one out,
Anthony Firenzi launched a home run to right field for his first round-tripper of the year.
Owen Dziados walked,
Joel Brophy singled, and
Julian Gallup walked to give Niagara the bases loaded with two outs.
Tanner Kirwer singled to bring Dziados home to bring the score to 4-2.
La Salle added five run over the next two innings to take a 9-2 lead into the fourth. With one out in the top of the inning,
Thomas Rodrigues singled to center field. The next two batters, Brophy and Gallup, both walked to give Niagara the bases loaded with one out. Kirwer reached on a fielder's choice, bringing around Rodrigues. After a throwing error on a pickoff attempt by the Explorers at first base, Brophy scored to make the score 9-4.
La Salle tacked on six more runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 15-4 lead, which proved to be the final score.
Liam Stroud started on the mound for Niagara and took the loss.
Tanner Kirwer led the Purple Eagles on offense going 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
Game TwoAfter both teams went scoreless over the first three innings, NU got on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the fourth. With one out,
Anthony Firenzi tripled down the left field line and
Nick Bernick followed with a sac fly to right field to bring Firenzi home to give the Purple Eagles a 1-0 lead after four.
Tanner Kirwer singled in the of the fifth inning and advanced to second on a throwing error by the La Salle pitcher. Kirwer then headed to third base on a failed pickoff attempt at second base. Rodrigues followed with a fielder's choice that brought Kirwer home and gave the Purples a 2-0 lead after five innings.
After La Salle exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth, Niagara added another run in the top of the sixth. After
Trevor McCauley led off the inning with a single down the right field line, Bernick reached on a fielder's choice with one out. A throwing error by the Explorers' shortstop allowed McCauley to advance to third and give NU runners on the corner's with one out.
Joel Brophy singled to left field, driving in McCauley and brining the score to 7-3.
La Salle tacked on four runs in the bottom of the sixth to give them an 11-3 lead, which would eventually be the final score.
Cody Eckerson started and took the loss for Niagara. Kirwer and
Michael Fuhrman both had two hits for the Purple Eagles in the loss.
Niagara returns to the field with a pair of doubleheaders against the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, N.J on March 21 and 22. Both twin-billings are scheduled to begin at noon.
