By Drew Friedman ‘16

The Leopards continued their dismal season after facing Navy this past week. They managed to snap a long losing streak, but failed to prevent their elimination from a Patriot League Tournament berth.

The Leopards went into Annapolis on a nine-game skid. This week’s performance seemed very similar to the recent past, with Lafayette losing numerous close games.

Against Navy, Lafayette went 1-3 with two of the defeats falling within a single run.  Lafayette did notch their first victory in over two weeks though.

During the win, the Leopards paced themselves behind behind a Andrew Santomauro ‘14 four hit, two run day from the lead off spot, including a seventh inning double to give Lafayette the lead 7-6.

After Navy put up two runs in the first inning against Leopards starter Connor Ortolf ‘14, Lafayette was able to match the offensive intensity, putting up four runs of their own in the top of the second.

Ortolf was able to settle in after having a little run support, holding the Midshipmen scoreless into the fifth until a single, a walk, and another single loaded the bases for Navy. The next batter hit a single scoring two runs and making it 6-4.  After the Navy surge, Derek Gussaroff ‘13 threw three scoreless innings for the leopards from the sixth to eighth inning.

In the bottom of the ninth Coach Kinney decided to go to sophomore Alex Farina, who struck out the first batter of the inning before giving up a two run double, which tied the game 6-6.  After Santomauro’s extra inning clutch double Lafayette was able to close the game out winning their fourth conference game of the season 7-6.

The freshman showed up this week, between pitchers Mitchell Leeds, and Ari Kaufman. Kaufman closed out the 7-6 win in extra innings against Navy, while Leeds was awarded Rookie of the Week honors for his eight inning, three hit scoreless performance against the Midshipmen on April 21. The Leopards ended up losing that game 1-0 in nine innings. The Leopards also lost a non-conference game at Monmouth 9-5.

Lafayette currently sit dead last in the Patriot League with a terrible 7-34 overall record (4-12 in the Patriot League).  With only one Patriot League series remaining against fourth-place Bucknell, the Leopards are officially eliminated from a Patriot League Tournament berth.

Kinney and the Leopards will try to enter the offseason with a shred of dignity, beginning Saturday at Lewisburg versus the Bison.