Saturday was certainly the busiest day of the baseball season thus far. And we couldn’t have asked for a better day either, as the temperature sat right around 50 degrees for most of the afternoon and not a cloud in the sky.
Here’s how it went down:
Division-I
Fordham and St. John’s played a DH at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens. They played 13 innings in the first game and 7 innings in game two.
For the marathon game, the score was tied 6-6 in the seventh inning on a bases loaded HBP of Justin Folz to score Marty Higgins. Credit to both teams pitching staffs for keeping the game scoreless until the 13th inning. Joseph Quintal threw six shutout innings of relief for the Rams which allowed them to walk it off on an RBI fielder’s choice by C.J. Vazquez. He had four RBI in the game, he also hit a bases-clearing double in the sixth inning that turned a 5-3 deficit into a 6-5 lead. Trey Maeker had three hits of the eight hits for the Rams. For the Johnnies, they had nine hits in the game, with two coming by way of Ryan Hogan. Matt Semon threw four shutout innings of relief to keep the game close. All told, the game lasted 4 hours, 24 minutes and they got to re-group and play another one right after.
Sonny Fauci started for the Johnnies, but lasted just one inning as he allowed two runs on two hits, three walks and hitting a batter. He needed 33 pitches to escape the inning. The two runs scored on an RBI single by Nick Labella and a hit by pitch of Trey Maeker. The Johnnies tied it up in the second on a HBP of Justin Folz. The game remained tied until the fifth inning when Colin Wetterau‘s RBI single gave St. John’s a 3-2 lead. The lead would not last long, though, as Jason Coules scored on a wild pitch to tie the game in the fifth. In the top of the sixth, St. John’s would take the lead for good on an RBI single by Ryan Hogan to score Jake Lazzaro. Brandyn Cruz came on to throw two scoreless innings of relief and Joe Joe Rodriguez slammed the door with a scoreless ninth inning.
The teams will finish off their epic series today in Queens at 1pm.
Stony Brook lost a close one, 2-1, to Villanova. A familiar face, Tyler Arella (John Glenn 2016) outdueled Sam Turcotte. The southpaw struck out 10 over 6 shutout innings, allowing six hits.
Villanova’s two runs scored in the sixth inning on a fielder’s choice and an RBI triple by Ryan Toohers. Kyle Johnson (Newfield 2018) fired three shutout innings of relief. He has fired 6.2 shutout innings to begin the season and has already pitched a career-high in innings.
The Seawolves offense actually drew five walks and notched nine hits but they stranded 14 runners. Their lone run scored in the 7th on an RBI single by Johnny Tuccillo to score Evan Giordano. They had the bases loaded in the 9th inning but Johnny Decker flew out to right to end the game.
They will square off again today in Villanova beginning at 2.
LIU swept a DH from Mount St. Mary’s by the scores of 8-5 and 6-4. In Game 1, they were trailing 4-1 in the 7th inning when the Sharks mounted a rally. Anthony Warneke hit an RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-2. Davyn Adamscheck tied the game with a 2-R single to score E.J. Exposito and Gio Ciaccio. Mary’s actually took a 5-4 lead in the eighth but reliever Rob Griswold was able to bear down and strand two runners to limit the damage. In the top of the ninth, Andy Camilo drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game and Adamscheck gave them the lead with an RBI single to left. Chris Wasson provided the insurance with a two-run single to center. Griswold worked around a leadoff single in the ninth to lock down the win. Adamscheck went 4-for-5 in the game with 3 RBI.
In Game 2, LIU took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI double by Carlton Harper to score Chris Wasson. In the meanwhile, Mike Lazos – who entered in the first inning in relief of Josh Loeschorn – was lights out. He wound up throwing 5.1 innings of relief, yielding two runs. In the fifth, LIU extended the lead to 4-0 on an RBI double by Giovanni Ciaccio, and RBI hits by Anthony Warneke and Carlton Harper. E.J. Exposito (4-for-5) added an RBI single of his own in the sixth inning to make it 5-0. It turns out those runs were needed at Mary’s fought back with two-run singles in the sixth and eighth innings to make it 5-4. But Exposito stepped up in the ninth and provided some insurance with his third HR of the season to make it 6-4. Griswold entered and struck out the side in the ninth to record the save.
With the victory, LIU improves to 4-0 and is one of the only unbeaten Division-I schools in the country. They will close out their series today at 1pm in Maryland.
Hofstra‘s athletics are on pause for a week due to a positive test in Tier-I of their program. They will be allowed to resume games beginning one week from today against Fordham.
Division-II:
Queens split a DH with Caldwell, winning 7-4 in Game 1 and losing 7-6 in the nightcap. In Game 1, Liam Pulsipher (Center Moriches 2018) got his first start for the Knights. He went five innings, allowing just 1 run on a fielder’s choice in the first inning and struck out five, allowing just one walk. Johnny Dougherty and Dean Fazah combined to throw four innings of relief, allowing 1 ER. The offense was carried by Colin Diez (Division 2019), who cleared the bases with a triple in the fourth inning to turn a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 lead. They extended the lead to 6-1 on an RBI single by Andrew Smith (Southampton 2020) and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Brad Sakellarides (Center Moriches 2019). Smith drove in another run with a ground out to make it 7-1. Caldwell got three runs back but Queens was able to hold on. Diez and Smith both had two hits. It was nice to see all the young, local talent for Queens who also started Jordan Ramlogan (Holy Trinity 2020) and Nick Barreiros (Seaford 2020).
They will be back in action on Friday at Bridgeport.
Molloy was swept by Dominican by the scores of 4-3 and 3-1. They are now 3-5 on the season. In Game 1, they trailed 4-0 entering the bottom of the eighth inning but rallied to score three times thanks to an RBI double by James Messina, a sac fly off the bat of Sean Hogan and an RBI ground by Jacob McCarthy. They went down 1-2-3 in the ninth, though, to drop this one by one run. Timmy Panetta allowed three runs over 6.2 IP, to get tagged with his first loss of the season.
In Game 2, Charlie Cucchiara got the start for the Lions and he was outstanding, but was handed the tough-luck loss. He went 7 innings, allowing two ER on six hits and a walk. His offense did not support him. Their lone run scored on an RBI ground out by Jacob McCarthy in the fourth inning. The Lions were held to three hits by Jaden Diaz-Lambert. Molloy will be back in action on Wednesday at Caldwell.
Adelphi was swept by St. Thomas Aquinas by the scores of 9-2 and 12-3 to drop to 2-5 on the season. In Game 1, Alex Mack outdueled Josh Rovner of the Panthers. Adelphi led 2-1 in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Tyler Becker, but the Spartans broke through with 4 runs in the fifth with the big knock coming on a bases-clearing double by Sean Lynch to turned a 2-2 game into a 5-2 lead for STAC. They tacked on three in the eighth and one in the ninth. For the Panthers, they notched only six hits with no players notching multi-hit games and they struck out 11 times as team.
Game 2 was uglier. Nic Luc started, fresh off being named NE-10 Pitcher of the Week, but he allowed 6 ER over 1.1 IP, yielding four hits and five walks. The game was essentially out of reach at that point. The bright spot for the Panthers was Jose Matos going 2-for-2 with two RBI. St. Thomas Aquinas is now 6-0 on the season. The Panthers will look to re-group this week before next Saturday’s DH against Southern Connecticut.
Division-III:
Farmingdale swept a DH from Manhattanville, which you covered and you can read by clicking here.
Old Westbury ran over SJC-Brooklyn 15-5 and 16-1 (7 innings). Transfer Tim Woodford started and got the win in Game 1. He struck out 8 over 4 innings, allowing two ER. Mike Manetta, leadoff batter, had three hits, four RBI and a walk. He homered, as did John Dell’Olio and Oscar Fajardo. The Panthers had 16 hits and drew 7 walks. Shaun Kaminski had three hits and Oscar Fajardo had four hits and five RBI.
In Game 2, Eddie Guzman started and went five innings, allowing just one hit and he earned the win. Joe Sarni went the final two innings and struck out five batters. The Panthers scored in every inning except the third. They had 15 hits and drew 5 walks. Manetta, Dell’Olio, Kaminski and Fajardo all had two hits. Five players notched multi RBI games as well.
They will “host” SJC-Brooklyn today at Farmingdale beginning at 11. No fans, no media allowed.
Maritime swept Purchase by the scores of 2-0 and 8-7. In Game 1, Ryan Ragone, Gabe Zwerin and Matt Paghidas combined on a three-hit shutout with three strikeouts. The offense came on a double steal in the first inning with Adam Mosca stealing home. They added another in the 7th on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Matt Eng. Ryan Rockhill went 2-for-3.
Game 2 was much more wild as it featured 15 runs, 23 hits and four errors. The score was knotted, 7-7, in the top of the eighth and Matt Eng broke the tie with an RBI double to score Jaden Shea. John Ohanian threw 2.2 shutout innings to record the win and Shane Sullivan recorded the final out for the save. Matt Eng went 4-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. Jaden Shea went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
They will host Purchase today at noon looking for the series sweep.
