By Nakeem Grant
It was a chilly weekend on the east coast, but Long Island’s baseball teams were unfazed by the weather as they got their games in. Here’s a breakdown of all the weekend action.
Division-I:
Stony Brook split their doubleheader on Saturday (Game 1, 9-5, Game 2, 2-0) in Connecticut against Hartford. In their 2-0 win, Bret Clarke earned his fourth win of the season, putting himself among the conference leaders in wins. He pitched 4.1 innings, scattering five hits on 79 pitches. Stony Brook find themselves in second place behind Binghamton in the America East Conference.
Hofstra lost 8-4 in the final game of a three game series with their conference rivals, Delaware University in Hempstead, NY. David Leiderman went 2-for-4 with two RBIs but as a team, they only managed to get four hits. Hofstra falls to a record of 1-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), placing them last.
NYIT lost both games of their doubleheader on Saturday (Game 1, 8-5, Game 2, 4-1) up north against the University of Maine. Dixon Marble and David Plotkin were the starters for NYIT in Saturday’s DH. They both had trouble with their command, giving up a combined 13 hits and 7 walks. NYIT’s offense has also struggled to this point in the 2016 season, batting .233 as a team. Their record away from home falls to 8-10.
Division-II:
Dowling won both games on Saturday (Game 1, 11-4, Game 2, 13-7) against their East Coast Conference (ECC) rivals, Long Island Post University, completing the series sweep. Contrary to the weather, Dowling’s bats were sizzling during the DH. Michael Rizzitello, Robert Morse, and Chris Appell collected 9 of Dowling’s 16 hits in Game 1. R.J. Going did the most damage for Dowling in Game 2, going two for three with two RBIs and a double. With these wins, Dowling moves ahead in the ECC standings to the No. 2 spot.
Molloy lost a nail biter in Game 1, 9-8 against Bridgeport University. They bounced back in Game 2, winning 6-3. Game 1 was decided in extra innings. Molloy took a three run lead in the top of the 10th, with clutch RBI hits from Kevin Podell and Michael Rahn. Bridgeport refused to go down. They quickly came back to tie the game in the bottom of the 10th. Justin Carey scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 11th to win the game for Bridgeport.
The action in Game 2 happened early in the ballgame as all of the runs scored came within the first two innings. Nicholas Gonchar went two for three with two RBIs in the eight hole for Molloy. Molloy drops to the fourth spot in the ECC.
Division-II:
After getting rained out on Saturday, Farmingdale State took both games in upstate New York against SUNY Purchase College (Game 1, 6-3, Game 2, 4-3). In Game 1, Matt Seelinger pitched 5.2 IP for Farmingdale, giving up just one hit with six strikeouts. In Game 2, Charles O’Neill Jr. came off the bench to get a game-winning two-run single in the top of the 7th. Farmingdale have won their last four games, improving their overall record to 8-10.
Their Skyline Conference rivals, St. Joseph’s College split their doubleheader today against SUNY Maritime College, winning the first and losing the second (Game 1, 5-1, Game 2, 6-5). Ryan Aloise had a stellar outing for St. Joseph’s. He went eight innings, allowing one run on four hits and striking out nine batters. Nick Girardi was locked in at the plate in Game 1, getting four base-hits with a triple and two RBIs.
Maritime jumped on St. Joseph’s in the first inning in Game 2, scoring five of their six runs. St. Joseph’s scored two in the 7th inning to make it a one-run game, but it they couldn’t complete the late comeback. St. Joseph’s are right in the middle of the Skyline Conference in fifth place with a record of 3-3.
