LAKELAND, FL – The SUNYIT baseball team dropped two games to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Trailblazers on Thursday, falling 10-5 in game one and 3-0 in game two.  The contest was held at Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL in the team's final match during its annual spring trip to the Sunshine State.

The Wildcats stuck first in game one, scoring two runs on a sacrifice fly RBI by junior Michael McCrone (Whitney Point, NY/Hudson Valley CC) and an RBI single by sophomore Chandler Evans (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), but MCLA answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 2 all.  The Wildcats would be blanked during the next three innings, while MCLA added a total of four runs during that span to take a commanding 6-2 lead after four innings of play.

The Wildcats would cut the lead in half with two runs in the fifth inning, as senior captain Dan Orza (Pleasant Valley, NY/Arlington) drove home sophomore John LeClair (Mohawk, NY/Cortland State) and was then brought home by a double from McCrone during the next at-bat.  MCLA would explode for four runs in the bottom of the inning, though, taking advantage of two SUNYIT errors and extending its lead to 10-4.  Another run would come in the top of the sixth for SUNYIT, but it wasn't enough as MCLA held on for the victory.

LeClair finished 2-for-3 at the plate and score two runs while stealing a base, while junior Anthony Surber (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills) drove in a run and scored another.

Paul Procopio went 2-for-4 with a homerun, three RBI and one run scored for MCLA, while John Ripepi was 2-for-2 with three runs scored, two stolen bases and an RBI.  Sean Hermance struck out four batters in six innings of work on the mound to record the victory.

Both teams held each other's offense in check in game two, as the Wildcats registered just three hits and MCLA recorded six.  The Trailblazers had three of those hits in the decisive second inning, where they scored all three of their runs on a two-run double from Ripepi and an RBI single by Rick Massey.  No other runs were scored throughout the rest of the game due to strong pitching from both teams' starters, with senior Ethan Marr (Roslyn, NY/Roslyn) finished with five strikeouts in five innings of work for SUNYIT, while MCLA's Daniel Gaines pitched a complete game and struck out six batters while walking one to record the win.

LeClair, Surber and Evans each had a hit for the Wildcats.

On their way home back from Florida, the Wildcats will first make a stop in Swarthmore, PA on Sunday to take on Swarthmore College for a doubleheader.  Game one is scheduled to begin at 12:30 pm.