Ben McNeill has 4 hits and 4 RBI in NYIT’s 14-1 win over Queens to keep their season alive. He’s our @BsbLifestyle101 Player of the Game pic.twitter.com/gCXiiQ2jmd
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 10, 2019
With their backs against the wall, the NYIT Bears bats went to work against No. 4 Queens College.
They cruised past the Knights, 14-1, with the offense posting 21 hits led by SS Ben McNeill‘s 4 hit and 4 RBI day. Also joining him in the hit parade was Matt Malone with three.
Another major story line was the two program records that were set. Starting pitcher D.J. Masuck went six shutout innings for his 10th win of the season, which ties a program-record set by Chris Perez (2006) and Joe Esposito (2005).
Closer Ariel Taveras entered in the seventh inning and fired the final three innings which earned him his 11th save of the season–also a program single-season record.
The Bears got off to an early start, putting up a run in the second inning on an RBI single by Matt Malone to score Kieran Dowd. They broke the game open in the second inning with a five-spot highlighted by RBI hits by ECC Player of the Year E.J. Cumbo, Ryan Kuskowski and McNeill.
With the Bears leading by six runs early, Masuck was able to do what he has done all season and that’s throw strikes and get outs.
For good measure, they added two runs in the fourth, two in the sixth, one in the seventh and three in the eighth.
For much of the game, the Knights had actually committed more errors than notched hits. They were able to avoid that distinction but still committed four errors while being limited to six hits. They did draw four walks which elevated Masuck’s pitch count up and prevented him from going deeper into the game.
With the victory, the Bears improve to 32-13 on the season. They will play again at 3:30 today against the loser of LIU Post-Bridgeport.
