Springfield, MA - The Setters bested the American International Yellow Jackets this afternoon 8-5 in an NE-10 Conference showdown. Pace improves to 7-7-1 overall and 1-0 in the Northeast-10 as they move past the Yellow Jackets who fall to 6-9 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

In early fashion, Pace University drew blood first in today's contest. In the bottom of the first inning Tyler Collins (Stamford, CT/Trinity Catholic) (Stamford, CT/Trinity Catholic) hit a towering drive over the right field wall to tack on a 1-0 lead. A pitchers dual would then take place till the fifth inning with no runs given up on either side.

In the top of the fifth, the Setters would produce three runs on two hits. Kyle Turnier (Waterford, CT/Waterford) (Waterford, CT/Waterford) started things off with a single to center field. Turnier would later advance to second base on a wild pitch. Glen Johnson (Hobe Sound, FL/South Fork) (Hobe Sound, FL/South Fork) and Joe Lombardi (Briarcliff, NY/Briarcliff) (Briarcliff, NY/Briarcliff) followed with walks of their own to load the bases. With two runners in scoring position, James Pjura (Shelton, CT/Shelton) (Shelton, CT/Shelton) would draw an RBI walk scoring Turnier tying things up 2-2. Next at the dish was Steven Martinez (Bronx, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) (Bronx, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) who would round out the inning with a two RBI single to right field as Pace took a 4-0 lead. American International would slice into the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame.

Pace added to their lead in the bottom of the seventh inning and eighth with one run and three runs on four hits respectively. With the score in favor of Pace 8-2, the Yellow Jackets would stage a late ninth inning comeback scoring three runs on three hits but would fall short 8-5.

Shinning for the Setters was Michael Rodriguez (East Hampton, NY/East Hampton) (East Hampton, NY/East Hampton) going 3-for-4 at the dish with two RBI's, scoring one run. Also performing well at the plate was Tyler Collins (Stamford, CT/Trinity Catholic) going 2-for-5 with three RBI's, scoring one run.   

MacKenzie King (Blairstown, NJ/North Warren) (Blairstown, NJ/North Warren) evened his record at 1-1 after tossing six innings, allowing two unearned runs on six hits, while striking out four. Neil Pezzullo (Harwich, MA/Pelham Memorial) recorded the final two outs to earn his second save on the season.

Pace returns to action Thursday, March 24 when they again matchup against NE-10 opponent American International College in Pleasantville, NY at 3:00 pm.