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In a crucial ECC double header this afternoon at Angelo Lorenzo Field, LIU Post and NYIT split the two games with NYIT taking the first game and LIU Post salvaging the split in the second.
Here’s how it went down:
Game 1:
LIU Post sent ace James Varela to the mound against a high-powered NYIT lineup, who countered with Chris Mott.
The Pioneers got off to a quick start in the first with a RBI singles by Dave Brehm and Anthony Vaglica. They added another run in the third on an RBI ground out off the bat of Jimmy Mendyk. With their ace on the hill, it appeared like that would be enough but Varela did not have his best stuff on this afternoon.
The Bears forced Varela’s pitch count up early and Ben McNeill ripped a two-run single to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the second. They tied it up on a solo shot by Kieran Dowd in the third. The ball was well-struck but it was certainly aided by the strong sustained winds on this day to right.
Another RBI single by Brehm regained the lead for the Pioneers but the Bears would not wave the white flag on this day. Ninth-place hitter Chris Campbell smoked a game-tying HR to right field in the fourth and their hottest hitter, E.J. Cumbo smoked a two-run single through the hole into right field to score McNeill and John LaRocca.
The score was 6-4 in the fourth inning and appeared like it would be a wild high-scoring affair but both offenses went dormant from that point on.
Varela settled in and wound up striking out 10 batters over 6.2 innings, but the Bears bullpen was dominant and held firm.
Ryan Mueller contributed three shutout innings, using a huge 6-4-3 double play to escape a jam in the eighth before giving way to closer Ariel Taveras who worked around a 2-out single to Chris Wasson to secure his program-tying 10th save of the season.
Mott was awarded the victory to improve to 4-1 on the season while Varela dropped to 7-3.
Game 2:
The second game was about as quick of a seven-inning game as you’ll see.
The Bears got out to an early 1-0 lead on an opposite field HR by Jake Lebel, his fifth of the season. Pioneers southpaw Noah Lorenzo settled in after that, though.
D.J. Masuck, who entered the game unblemished at 8-0 was sharp as usual, but was burned by an error by his shortstop to allow the game’s tying run to score in the third.
Cumbo struck again on an RBI single to give the Bears a 2-1 lead in the third and they had hopes to completing the sweep but the Pioneers offense responded right back with a huge 2-R single by Wasson in the fourth to score Jimmy Mendyk and David Franchi. Brehm added another RBI hit to extend the lead to 4-2.
Lorenzo was on cruise control after that, he finished the 7-inning complete game, allowing just five hits and two walks to earn his 7th win of the season in just 1 hour 25 minutes.
These two teams will square off in another double header tomorrow. The Pioneers are in first place in the ECC with a record of 19-3 while the Bears are right behind with a record of 17-5.
