The LIU Post Pioneers continued their dream campaign with a 7-2 victory in the first round of the NCAA Division-II East Regional over No. 6 Felician.
The Pioneers, who are the No. 3 seed in the tournament but the No. 25 nationally-ranked team, got out to a quick 3-0 start in the first inning. After Giovanni Ciaccio led off the game with a walk, he advanced to third on an error and scored on a sac fly by Dave Brehm. An RBI ground out by Anthony Vaglica and a wild pitch extended their lead.
With their ace on the mound, that was more than enough. Since beginning the season with two consecutive losses, Varela has returned to being one of the best Division-II pitchers in the nation. He struck out 15 batters–bringing his season total to an unbelievable 139–and walked just two batters in a complete game victory.
The Pioneers added three runs for him in the third inning on an RBI single by David Franchi and a two-run triple by Jimmy Mendyk to open up a comfortable 6-0 lead.
Varela allowed a solo shot in the fourth to Mike Martine and an RBI single to Sean Downey in the sixth to cut the lead to 6-2, but the Pioneers got one back in the seventh on a wild pitch that scored Vaglica.
LIU Post needed only four hits in this game as they struggled against the Felician relievers–Jacob Nappi and Matt Miller.
Nevertheless, the Pioneers cruised to this victory and Varela improved his record to 10-3 on the season. They advance to the winner’s bracket where they face No. 17 nationally-ranked Southern New Hampshire, who is the No. 1 seed in the tournament. These two teams met back in February, in which the Penmen came away victorious with a 2-0 victory. It dropped the Pioneers to 0-4 on the season.
