Let’s just say it was not the most fruitful of days for the local college teams. If not for the fellas in Brookville, it would’ve been a big 0-for-the day.
We will jump into the action:
Division-I:
St. John’s fell 11-8 to Xavier, who improve to 4-0 in Big East play despite having an overall record of 13-21. The Red Storm actually led 3-0 in this game from an RBI single by Mitchell Henshaw and an RBI triple by Mike Antico, but the lead did not last. Two errors put five unearned runs on the board and suddenly they trailed 5-4. They were able to tie it up on an RBI ground out by Ryan Markey and take the lead on a sac fly by Henshaw but Xavier scored six times in the eighth inning against Joe Kelly to blow the game open. Carson Bartels had three hits for the Red Storm and Henshaw drove in three runs. They will be back in action today at 1pm in Queens. The Red Storm are 18-12 on the season.
Fordham was shutout 3-0 with only two hits against VCU. Continuing in their recent trend of having trouble on the road, they fell behind 1-0 early and weren’t able to recover. Matt Mikulski took the hard-luck loss for the Rams, he went 7 innings, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk with six strikeouts. Nick Labella and Jake MacKenzie had the only hits for the Rams, the latter of which now has an incredible 51 on the season.
Hofstra fell to Towson to begin their weekend series to the CAA rivals by the score of 8-5. The silver lining is that they put up a valiant effort in the ninth inning trailing 8-1. Parker Quinn got it going with an RBI single to score Vito Friscia and then the 2018 Diamond Award winner Anthony D’Onofrio hit his first collegiate home run to make it 8-5, which scored Quinn and Rob Weissheier. Jack Jett took the loss for the Pride, but Jimmy Joyce did fan four batters in four innings of relief. The Pride will look to get back on track today at 1pm. They are 6-23 on the season.
Division-II:
Queens defeated Molloy, 4-2, in an ECC match up on Friday. Dennis Buckstein, a 2015 graduate of Sachem North, record his fourth victory of the season against one loss. He was brilliant, going eight innings, striking out 11 and allowing only one walk and scattering seven hits. The game was tied, 1-1, into the fifth innings but Brian Watters hit an RBI single and Jon Strauss followed with an RBI single of his own, a double steal added their fourth run of the game. The Lions inched closer on an RBI single by James Messina in the seventh to score Kevin Wall, but that was as close as they’d get. Fellow Sachem grad, Kevin Kochen, locked it down in the ninth with a 1-2-3 innings needing just 10 pitches. They will be back in action today in a double header in Uniondale beginning at noon. Tim Panetta struck out nine for the Lions, but was handed his fourth loss of the season.
LIU Post edged past Bridgeport, 2-1, to improve to 21-11 on the season. James Varela continues his assault on batters with a complete game, 12-K gem, allowing just six hits and a walk to improve to 6-2 on the season. He’s won his past six decisions. He was opposed by Sayville-grad, Anthony Martino, who kept the Pioneers in check for his six shutout innings and left with a 1-0 lead. Jimmy Mendyk tied it up with a sac fly in the seventh inning and Reynaldo Guillen drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning to score Andy Camilo. Varela now has 89 strikeouts on the season and a 1.86 ERA, which might actually be an improvement on last year’s Axcess Baseball Cy Young season.
NYIT suffered a 6-3 setback verse Mercy. This a disappointing loss for the Bears, who had been riding high and targeting a four-game weekend sweep. They had got off to a quick start, a 3-run first inning, highlighted by a an RBI double by Ryan Kuskowski and an RBI single by Matt DeAngelis and a fielder’s choice that scored Jake Lebel. That was all they would get, though.
Mercy got all three back in the first inning against Chris Mott, who labored through 5.1, allowing six hits and five walks. Dean Fazah and Elvin Ramos each contributed 1.1 shutout innings of relief. The Bears high-octane offense was kept in check after the first, they notched just five hits with two of those off the bat of Kieran Dowd. They are still 20-7 (10-3 ECC) on the season, seeking retribution today at home in a double header scheduled for 12pm.
