HOCKESSIN, Del. – The Thomas Jefferson University baseball team (26-19) swept its best-of-three first-round series at Goldey-Beacom in the CACC Tournament, taking games one and two on Monday.
 
The Rams, the third seed in the South Division, advance to the double-elimination portion of the conference tournament at Post. Jefferson takes on the host Eagles, who are the top seed in the North Division, on Thursday, May 12 at 2 p.m. Felician and Wilmington (Del.) are the other two teams who will compete at Post.
 
GAME ONE – W, 6-1
The Rams set the tone in the first inning with Chris McLean recording an RBI single with two outs for a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Justin Espinal doubled in a run, again with two down, to up the advantage to two. Josh Lopez launched his seventh homer of the year, a solo shot, in the sixth to make it 3-0.
 
That was more than enough for Jem Sisco as the Jefferson ace dazzled on the mound once again. He took a no-hitter into the seventh before allowing a lead-off single to begin that frame. Sisco struck out 12 over 6.1 innings and he whiffed eight consecutive hitters at one point.
 
The Lightning brought the lead-off man in with an infield single to make it 3-1 in the seventh. In the eighth, Lucas DeStefano led off with a walk then Lopez was intentionally put on to bring up Vince Barone. Barone made GBC regret the move, blasting a three-run homer to center to increase the Jefferson lead to five (6-1). Anthony Pillari pitched a scoreless 2.2 innings to lock down his third save.
 
Quick Hits
- Josh Lopez: 2-for-3, HR, 3 R, BB
- Vince Barone: 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
- Justin Espinal: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB
- Jem Sisco: Win, 6.1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 5 BB, 12 K
- Anthony Pillari: Save, 2.2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 K
 
GAME TWO – W, 10-7
Jefferson carried the momentum into game two, putting up four runs in the first. Arturo Figueroa crushed a two-run homer, and Efrain Santiago and Justin Espinal registered back-to-back RBI singles. Goldey-Beacom got three runs back in the second with one coming an error and two via a double.
 
Chris McLean bashed a solo shot in the third, his team-leading 11^th of the year, to put the Rams ahead 5-3. Jefferson opened it up to a five-run cushion (8-3) with a three-run fourth. Ryan Sawyer doubled in a pair and Figueroa knocked in one with a base hit. Sawyer plated two more with a single in the fifth to make it 10-3.
 
The Lightning got back in it with four runs in the sixth. GBC loaded the bases up in the seventh, trailing 10-7, with one out but Matt Bukavich came in and induced an infield fly and a fly out to end the threat. After a harmless eighth, the Lightning managed to load them up again in the ninth with one away. Bukavich came back with a strikeout then forced a fly out to close out the win. Bukavich was awarded the victory for his efforts.
 
Quick Hits
- Ryan Sawyer: 2-for-5, 2B, 4 RBI, R
- Arturo Figueroa: 2-for-5, HR, 3 RBI
- Chris McLean: 1-for-4, HR, 2 R
- Efrain Santiago: 2-for-3, RBI, R, BB
- Justin Espinal: 2-for-4, RBI, R
 
NOTES
- The Rams went 4-1 against Goldey-Beacom this season.
- Jefferson has now recorded a CACC Tournament victory for the third straight season. Overall, the Rams have won a tournament game in each of the last five years they have qualified.
- Jem Sisco lowered his season ERA to a miniscule 1.96 and recorded his second straight double-digit strikeout game.