A lot of quality baseball played on the island Saturday, including a historic offensive performance at the Division-I level. Take a look at who continued to make a postseason push.
Division-I:
Hofstra: Hofstra defeated William & Mary, 7-3, to extend their winning streak to six in a row. Rob Weissheier delivered a grand slam in the first inning to help open up a 4-0 lead. Steven Foster joined the homerun party with a shot of his own in the seventh inning, a two-run shot, to extend the Pride’s lead. Matt Weissheier was solid in his six innings, giving up one run and striking out five. The win makes Hofstra 9-8 on the year against CAA rivals.
St. John’s: St Johns pounded out 31 hits on their way to defeat Xavier 34-7. The bats were scorching hot as the Red Storm knocked home at least three runs in five different innings on the afternoon. John Valente went 4-for-6 with five RBI and four runs. Jamie Galazin showed out as well, going 4-for-6 with six RBI, two homeruns and four runs. Josh Shaw put up five hits and four RBI as well. The hitting outburst puts St Johns at 27-11 on the season. It was the third time in program history they eclipsed the 30-run mark and first since 2010.
Fordham: A Jake Mackenzie homerun in the 11th inning helps lift Fordham past St. Joes, 8-7. St. Joes built a 6-1 lead going into the seventh inning until the Rams began to chip away. They scored one in the seventh and five in the eighth to take a 7-6 lead. After surrendering the lead in the ninth, Mackenzie bails out the Rams with his eighth homerun of the season. Catcher Justin Bardwell had a nice afternoon as well, knocking three hits and three RBI.
Stony Brook: Stony Brook swept Binghamton. They won 5-0 in game one of their double header. The Sea Wolves rode the backs of left fielder Andruw Gazzola and starter Greg Marino. Gazzola drove in three of the team’s five runs, and scored one himself. On the other side, starter Greg Marino was masterful, going seven innings and giving up just two hits. The top three hitters in the lineup accounted for nine of the teams hits on the day, and ultimately helped push them past the Bearcats.
Stony Brook went on to sweep the double header with a 3-1 victory in game two. The Sea Wolves left seven runners on but still found enough offense to get the win. Four players had multiple hits, including shortstop Nick Grande, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI, one walk and a run scored to push his AVG for the season up to .400. Brian Herrmann was solid in his outing, going six strong innings of one run baseball. The sweep puts Stony Brook at 23-18 on the season.
Division-II:
Molloy: Molloy defeated LIU Post 3-2 in game one of their double header. Molloy starter Kevin Hiss went 8.1 innings, giving up two runs and six hits to earn his seventh victory of the season. It was the seventh time he allowed two or fewer runs in a start this season. The offense wasn’t overpowering for the Lions but it was just enough. Angelo Navatta went 2-for-4 on the afternoon, driving in two of the team’s three runs. The two hits helped bump Navatta’s average back up to .380 on the season.
Molloy swept the double header with the 3-1 victory in game two. After trailing by one run in the second inning, RBI hits from Sean Hogan and Jake McCarthy helped put the Lions on top. Besides the run in the first, Timothy Panetta dealt the complete seven innings, giving up five hits and striking out six. The sweep puts Molloy at 24-19 on the season.
LIU Post: LIU Post fell to Molloy 3-2 in game one of the double header. Noah Lorenzo looked good for the Pioneers, going eight innings, giving up three runs and seven hits in the loss. The offense was slow for LIU Post, as they scored their first two runs in the eighth and ninth innings. A rare 0-for-4 day from both Rob Androeli and Dave Brehm did not help the cause. Michael Greene helped the Pioneers attempt to crawl back by lifting an RBI double in the ninth.
LIU Post was swept by Molloy in the double header, losing 3-1. The Pioneers had only three players get a hit in the game, with two of them having two hits each. The pitching from Joe Valentino and Mike Stiles was solid overall, allowing only five hits, but it would prove not to be enough. The two losses puts the Pioneers at 25-16 for the season.
Queens: Queens fell to Bridgeport 6-3 in game one of the double header. The Purple Knights jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead on runs in the first and fifth inning. The Knights fought back with two RBIs in the sixth but it would not be enough. Louis Antos, Sam Siegel, and Ron Linsalato each had two hits a piece, with Siegel and Linsalato driving in two of the Knights runs. Michael Lamneck is handed with his first loss of the season after surrendering three runs over six innings.
The Knights fell in game two of the double header, losing 4-2 to Bridgeport. A pitchers duel between Dennis Buckstein and Anthony Martino favored Martino on Friday, as he dealt 7 innings, giving up just one run and 10 hits to give his team the win. Bridgeport centerfielder Daren Grabowski had four hits, including two runs scored and a double as well. The sweep puts Queens at 12-24 on the season.
NYIT: NYIT was defeated by Adelphi 11-6. The bats got hot for the Bears too late in this one as a three run eighth and ninth inning was not enough to overcome the deficit. In total NYIT had 13 hits, three of them coming from first baseman Jake Lebel. Christopher Miller struggled in the start, giving up six runs, four of them earned, and walking five batters in just four innings. PH Matt DeAngelis came into the game and had an immediate impact, going 2-for-2 with an RBI single and double for the Bears.
Pace: Pace fell to Le Moyne 5-0. A four run fourth inning by Le Moyne was the deciding factor in the win for the Dolphins. An Andrew Taft three-run homerun got it started for Le Moyne. Josiah Gray was magnificent for the Dolphins, putting up eight shutout innings, striking out nine in the process. For Pace, they managed only four hits on the afternoon, with no player having more than one.
Adelphi: Adelphi defeated NYIT 11-6 with help from the consistent hitting down the lineup. No player had more than one hit, but it did the job as most of those hits came with runners in scoring position. Brett Malm added a homerun in the seventh inning to help extend their lead. The Panthers went to work early, scoring six runs in the first four innings. A four run eighth inning helped pad their lead push them to 23-14-1 on the season.
Division-III:
Old Westbury: Maritime defeated Old Westbury 10-9 in game one of the double header. The Panthers comeback from down 10-4 comes up a little short. Old Westbury was able to get two runs back in the seventh and three in the ninth but it would prove to not be enough. Three players recorded three or more hits, and the team had 15 on the afternoon. First baseman Dean Sheridan had four RBI and scored two runs. Mike Manetta was impressive as well, knocking three hits and three RBI on the day.
Old Westbury was swept by Maritime in the double header, losing 7-6 in game two. A five run fourth inning could not hold back the Privateers, as they scored three in the final frame to win. Old Westbury got contributions from Jesse Russo and Mike Manetta, who each had two hits. Christian Tessitore was solid in his four innings of work, giving up five hits and one run. The loss puts the Panthers at 19-15-1 on the season.
Maritime: Maritime was able to hold off the comeback, defeating Old Westbury 10-9 in game one of the double header. A Chris Deddo three-run homerun along with a 4-for-5, three RBI day for Aaron Schiavoni helped the Privateers claim the victory. Though it was not his best stuff, Anthony D’Ancona was able to go 5.2 innings to get his sixth win of the season.
Maritime’s late game heroics helped push them past Old Westbury 7-6 in game two of the double header. A Matt Costleigh homerun in the seventh, followed by a Jake Vera RBI single helped tie the game up in the bottom of the seventh. Shane Sullivan plated the game’s final run with an RBI single down the left field line, completing the comeback and putting Maritime at 23-12 on the season.
Ju-co
Nassau: Nassau defeated Kingsborough in both games of the double header, 3-0, 13-0. No box score was provided.
Suffolk: Suffolk split the double header against Queensborough 1-0 and 1-0. No box score was provided.
