(Game 1 Box) (Game 2 Box) 

            FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Plymouth State University baseball team dropped two close games to Fredonia State (N.Y.) on Monday, falling to the Blue Devils 4-1 and 3-2 in a doubleheader at the annual Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.

            Fredonia is off to a 5-0 start to the season. The Panthers fall to 1-5 on their spring trip, with four of the six games being decided by one run.

            The Panthers got solid performances from both of their starting pitchers, freshman Bobby Chatfield (Sharon, Conn.) and sophomore Bryant Lausberg (Somersworth, N.H.).  Chatfield allowed only two earned runs in a seven-inning complete-game effort in the opener, and Lausberg tossed five innings of shutout ball before getting touched for three runs (one earned) in the sixth.

            The Panthers finished with seven hits in the first game but managed only one run.  That came in the second inning when senior Jim VanGyzen (Glocester, R.I./Ponaganset) singled and scored on a two-out double by classmate Josh Roberti (Cranston, R.I./East).

            The Blue Devils scored twice off Chatfield  in the second inning on RBI singles by seniors Jordan Basile (Jamestown, N.Y.) and Sam Tuzzeo (Irondequoit, N.Y.), and added another pair in the fourth on RBIs from junior Don Kirsch (Cowlesville, N.Y.) and senior Eric Dietrick (Hamburg, N.Y.)

            After five scoreless innings in the second game, PSU broke on top with two runs in the top of the sixth.  Roberti brought home the first run with a sacrifice fly, and freshman Mike Cappiello (Westfield, N.J.) added a two-out RBI single. The Blue Devils came right back, though, with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, one coming home on a Panther throwing error, one on a RBI single by senior Pete Lusk (Albion, N.Y.), and the eventual game-winner on an infield grounder.

            Sophomore Andy Dlugosz (Lackawanna, N.Y.) pitched the first six innings for Fredonia, and freshman Nick Cummings (Akron, N.Y.) worked a scoreless ninth for his second save.

            PSU has Tuesday and Wednesday off before returning to action Thursday with a doubleheader against the University of Minnesota-Morris, beginning at 10:00 a.m. 

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