As we move closer towards Spring, the weather is starting to get nicer and baseball is starting to kick into full swing. With nine teams playing on Friday, let’s take a look at how things shaped out.
Division-I:
On Friday afternoon, Fordham won their 6th game of the year as they defeated Iona, 9-2. From the beginning of the game, it was never really close. Matt Mikulski picked up the win in relief for Fordham, going six innings allowing one earned run and seven hits. Offensively, their bats were on fire. Jake Mackenzie continued his hot streak at the plate, going 4-4 with 4 RBI. He’s now batting .354 on the young season. They play Iona again today at 11 AM. West Islip grad, Jake Guercio, had two hits and continues to swing a hot bat in the early going of his college career.
In a close game, St. John’s was defeated by UC Irvine, 3-0. Although they out hit UC Irvine 6-5, they couldn’t put any runs across with men in scoring position. Offensively, Wyatt Mascarella was the only player who had a multi-hit game, going 2-3. They play UC Irvine again today at 9 PM.
In a tight game, Hofstra continued their struggles as they lost to Iona, 4-2. They now fall to 2-7 on the year. Iona got their first in of the season. Additionally, this was Iona’s first win of the year. Throughout the game, Hofstra only mustered together four hits. Freshman Anthony D’Onofrio continued to impress as he had an RBI and a stolen base in the loss. They play Fordham today at 3 PM.
Division-II:
LIU Post was able to get back to the .500 line as they shutout East Stroudsburg 5-0. It’s clear that James Varela loves the USA Complex, one year after shutting out high-powered Franklin Pierce at the same location. Through seven innings, pitching and defense on both sides was phenomenal as it was tied 0-0 through seven innings. However, this would change in the top half of the 8th as the Pioneers put up a four-spot to break this game wide open. After an Anthony Vaglicia RBI, Mike Greene came into pinch hit and delivered. He had a bases clearing triple, giving LIU Post a four-run lead, which they never looked back from. Varela fired a complete game shutout on four hits and nine strikeouts. Post plays Slippery Rock today at 10:30 with a chance to stay hot.
NYIT continued to impress as they swept their double header in Florida. They’re now 6-2 in early March. In game one, they defeated Minnesota Duluth 13-10. The crazy part about this victory? They were down 10-3 heading into the bottom of the 8th. NYIT answered the Minnesota Duluth’s five-spot with a nine-spot of their own. All together, they combined for 13 hits and 13 runs. Zach Kleinwaks was the leader of their offense, going 4-4 with an RBI. Jake Lebel also had a solid game, going 3-5 with 2 RBI. EJ Cumbo had a bases clearing double in the bottom of the 8th.
NYIT was able to keep their momentum from their game one win as they defeated Minnesota Crookston 4-2 in game two. After holding a 3-0 lead after three innings, their pitching stayed in tact, propelling them to victory. All together, they scratched across 10 hits in this one. Three different players had multi-hit games for them, including Joseph Pesce, Ben McNeill and Zach Kleinwaks. DJ Masuck was the winning pitcher for them, going seven innings allowing five hits and one earned run. Ariel Tavares picked up his third save of the year in relief. NYIT hopes to continue their winning way today against Augustana today 4:30 PM.
Adelphi suffered their first loss of the year as they fell to Barry, 7-1. This game was never really close as Adelphi trailed 7-0 after three innings. Offensively, six different players collected a hit, but clearly that wasn’t enough. Their pitching combined to allow seven earned runs and seven walks. They face Felician today at 1 PM.
Molloy continues to struggle as they fell to Felician 2-0. They are now 0-5 on the season. All together, they had six hits. James Messina was the only bright spot for them, as he went 3-3 at the plate. Although their pitching did a good job, their bats stayed cold. They hope to pick things up against Barry today at 6 PM.
Division-III:
After battling hard for 13 innings, Maritime fell to Hood University, 4-3, in 13 innings. After the 6th inning where Maritime put up two runs, their offense couldn’t string together enough hits to produce runs. Their bullpen faulted and their offense flat lined. At the plate, Matt Eng and Antonio Diaz both had two hits. After suffering a tough defeat, Maritime looks to rebound today in a double header against Dominican and North Park.
