One month into the college baseball season and things have kicked into high gear. Yesterday was another thrilling day, we covered LIU Post‘s DH sweep over Assumption, which you can read about here. There was plenty of other action including a big conference DH sweep by a local D1 and a huge offensive output by a local D2.
Here’s how it went down:
Division-I:
Stony Brook left Saturday sweeping UMBC in a double header, extending their winning streak to three. In game one, they won 4-3 in a closely contested battle. In a back and forth game, things were all knotted up heading into the 7th inning. Once again Michael Wilson proved why he is the catalyst of this lineup, as he launched a go ahead home run to center. He finished 3-3 on the game with 4 RBI. He now owns a .442 average and has five home runs on the year. Following the go ahead home run, Stony Brook’s bullpen stayed strong and they were able to close out the game one victory. Sam Turcotte picked up the win, allowing only one hit through 2.2 innings.
The Seawolves kept their momentum heading into game two as they defeated UMBC 9-3. Stony Brook came out of the gates hot, answering UMBC’s two-spot in the first inning with a four-spot of their own. They kept their hot bats in this one, as they tallied 11 hits on the day. Chris Hamilton was the leader of the offense, going 3-4 with 4 RBI. Brian Herrmann picked up the complete game victory. They finish their three game series against UMBC today at 2 PM.
In a low scoring battle, St. John’s defeated Kansas on Saturday by a score of 3-1. Joe LaSorsa got the start for St. John’s and was dominant. He went the distance, allowing one earned run on four hits and struck out seven. This was also his first victory of the season. Brandon Miller was the highlight of the St. John’s offense, going 2-4 with a home run. St. John’s plays Kansas again today at 1 PM.
The bats went cold for Fordham on Saturday, as they lost to Cornell 1-0. Evidently, their offense would like to forget this one. The Rams had six hits, but couldn’t cash any of them in for runs. Although their bats weren’t on display, their pitching was. They combined to allow just three hits and no earned runs. Fordham would like to forget this game, as they play Towson today at 3 PM.
Hofstra once again couldn’t figure things out offensively, as they dropped game two of the series against Liberty 1-0. This now marks their sixth consecutive loss. The worst part about this loss? They left 14 men on base and didn’t score a single run. This almost near impossible stat pretty much sums up their last two weeks of baseball. They hope to steal one in game three of the series today against Liberty at 1 PM.
Division-II:
Adelphi dropped a tough game against Southern New Hampshire, losing 12-1. All around, this was a very sloppy game for Adelphi. Offensively, they only tallied three hits. Defensively, they made three errors. On the mound, they allowed nine hits and nine earned runs. The stats speak for themselves. Now sitting at 6-4 on the season, Adelphi’s next game will be against Molloy on Tuesday at 3:30 PM.
A lot of positives came out of Molloy‘s double header against Concordia on Saturday, but also some negatives. In game one of their double header, the Lions won 17-10. Clearly, their bats were on fire in this one. After trailing 10-2 heading into the bottom of the 2nd inning, the Molloy bats slowly but surely came alive. They went on to put up an eight-spot of their own to take the lead in the 3rd inning and never looked back. Matt Overton was the standout player for Molloy, as he went 4-6 at the plate with 3 RBI. Chris Peralta also had a great game, going 3-5 with 4 RBI. Thomas Brady and Mike Wall both had 3 RBI as well.
Not able to keep their momentum going into game two, Molloy was defeated by Concordia 13-6. Right out of the gate, Molloy was trailing 6-0. The only difference in this game was that they weren’t able to keep up the same pace offensively as the first game. They hung in tough, but their pitching got lit up. Through 11 games, their team ERA currently stands at a 7.66. They play Dominican today at noon.
The bats were surging for Queens on Saturday, as they swept Bloomfield in a double header. In game one, they went on to win 16-12. Although their pitching wasn’t too hot, it was overshadowed by their offensive explosion. All together, they scratched across 16 runs on 15 hits. This game was highlighted by a nine-run 4th inning, which included a Ron Linsalto three-run bomb and a Nick Font grand slam. Linsalto, Font and Jon Strauss all finished with 4 RBI.
Riding their momentum from game one, Queens was able to keep things going against Bloomfield, as they won 12-4 in game two. Once again, Queens was able to string together hits at the right time as they scored six in the third inning, leading them to victory. Eric Roubal had a career game at the plate, going 4-4 with 3 HR and 7 RBI. Jack Palma picked up his second win of the year in complete game fashion. Queens has another double header against Bloomsfield today at noon.
Division-III:
Farmingdale got back on track with a DH sweep over Keuka in Kissimmee, FLA after back-to-back losses. In the first game, the bats took a couple innings to wake up but came to life beginning in the third inning, where they scored three of their 11 runs. They wound up scoring in every ensuing inning. Nick Attardi and Brian Perez notched multi-hit games. Attardi, Vinny Rice and Tyler Schrimpf had two RBI each. Southpaw Joe Marino compiled his first win of the season.
In their second game, they trailed 2-0 entering the bottom of the second but came back with six runs over the next three innings. Five different players accounted for RBI, Jimmy Mattera & Vinny Rice had three hits apiece while Mike Amendola and Shawn Blasberg had two each. Steven Burke won his first game of the season, he fired a seven inning complete game with four strikeouts and 0 walks.
Old Westbury overcame a 6-2 fifth inning deficit against St. Lawrence to open up the Gene Cusic Classic with a victory. It was a huge offensive performance for Peter Capel, who hit two-run singles in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game up. He also smoked an RBI double in the eighth inning for the eighth and final run. John Condon, last week’s hero, hit the go-ahead RBI single to score Mike Manetta. The other bright spot in the game was starter Adam Heidenfelder. The 6’5″ RHP ended last season with a torn labrum and it certainly put his baseball future in jeopardy. To his credit, he came back for his redshirt senior season and fired three shutout innings with five strikeouts after the year-long absence. He walked only one batter. No small feat. Joe Sarni came on in relief and fired 4.2 outstanding innings, allowing just one run to record the victory.
Maritime split with the College of Staten Island in a DH, losing 4-3 and winning 10-1. In the victory, they wasted zero time as they poured on four runs in the top of the first inning thanks to RBI hits by Phil Russo, Joe Scerra and a bases loaded walk by Adam Mosca. Jake Vera added an RBI double in the fourth. They added four insurance runs in the sixth to break it wide open. Travis Zurita hit an RBI double, Jake Vera hit an RBI single, Angelo Brucculeri hit an RBI single and Vera reached on an RBI’s fielder’s choice. Ryan Ragone recorded his first victory, firing six innings with seven punchouts.
St. Joseph’s split with Skidmore, losing 5-3 and winning 6-1. In the victory, they quickly erased a 1-0 deficit with a run in the first and two in the second. Jesse Nakashian had three hits, two RBI and scored a run. Nick Vicino had two hits as did Angelo Montalbano. Charles Rainone drew two walks and scored a run. Nick Mannarino went six strong for his first win of the season. Justin Fitzpatrick closed it out in the seventh.
