When two great pitchers are on their game, it’s a shame somebody has to lose. Jake DeCarli of LIU Post and Shea Spitzbarth of Molloy went toe-to-toe in an epic pitching dual at Molloy that the Pioneers won by the score of 2-1.
The Molloy Lions took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI groundout by Anthony Alberghina that scored Deilyn Guzman.
Both pitchers settled into an unbelievable groove from that point on. DeCarli went seven innings, allowed three hits, four walks, one run while striking out 10 batters. The opposing start, Spitzbarth, went seven innings as well, allowed five hits, walked one, allowed zero runs and struck out 10.
In the top of the eighth, Sean Gordon came on in relief. Vinny Iacono started the rally with a one-out double to CF. After the next batter grounded out, Anthony Brunetti singled home Iacono to tie the game at one.
Vinny Ruggiero came on in relief of DeCarli and put up a zero to send the game to the ninth.
Rick Alessi tripled to right center field with one out to get the go-ahead run 90 feet away for the Pioneers. After a ground out, pitcher Deilyn Guzman uncorked a wild pitch to score the go-ahead run and put LIU Post up 2-1.
In the bottom of the ninth, Dillon Burke came on for the save. He avoided any stress by inducing a ground ball, wedged between two strikeouts to seal the victory for the Pioneers in the ECC matchup.
The Pioneers improve to 6-5, while the Lions fall to 8-10. The two teams will play a DH tomorrow beginning at 12.
