By Michael Malaszczyk
College baseball is finally back, and the local colleges had an eventful Saturday on February 19th. Stony Brook University, St. John’s University, Molloy College, Long Island University, and Fordham University all played.
Division-I:
While Fordham University’s Rams did not bring home a win on Saturday, they made vast improvements from opening day against Texas A&M in Saturday’s rematch. A&M had the home field advantage in this series.
While Texas’s left fielder Dylan Rock scored one run in the first inning, Fordham’s defense was able to hold Texas down in the second and third innings to no runs. Texas A&M bounced back to have a strong fourth and fifth inning, scoring two runs in each. Texas third baseman Trevor Werner hit a home run in the fourth inning, and Texas catcher Troy Claunch scored a run in that same inning courtesy of a Dylan Rock run-scoring hit. In the fifth inning, Texas designated hitter Taylor Smith scored a run, as did Trevor Werner. Fordham’s defense played strong for the remaining innings, holding Texas A&M to no more runs.
On the offensive side, Fordham mounted a late-game comeback. While Texas froze Fordham out for the first six, in the seventh inning, Fordham second baseman Jack Harnisch scored a run. In the eighth inning, Fordham designated hitter Will Findlay and center fielder Jason Coules both scored runs.
Despite this late-game surge, Texas A&M prevailed over Fordham, winning Saturday’s game 5-3. This brought Fordham’s overall record to 0-2.
The Long Island University Sharks split wins with the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday.
In their first game, Penn State came strong out of the gates, scoring a whopping six runs in the first inning. Their first inning scorers were designated hitter Johnny Piacentino, catcher Matt Wood, right-fielder Tayven Kelley, first baseman Josh Spiegel, second/third baseman Kyle Hannon, and center fielder Billy Gerlott. Tayven Kelly scored twice in the inning.
LIU’s right fielder, Michael Edelman, scored in the second inning, while Penn State’s third baseman C.J. Pittaro scored in the same inning. Neither team scored in the third. Penn State’s Matt Wood hit a home run in the fourth. Penn State’s Cole Bartel, C.J. Pittaro, Matt Wood, and Josh Spiegel all scored in the sixth. Neither team scored in the seventh, and both scored two runs in the eighth; E.J. Exposito and Giovanni Ciaccio scored for LIU, while Jay Harry and Anthony Steele scored for Penn State.
This game was a win for Penn State, 14-3.
LIU avenged this loss later that day in their rematch. Penn State came out strong once again, scoring five runs in the first inning. LIU came back strong in the second, scoring three of their own; Penn State once again scored a run. Neither scored in the third inning. LIU scored again in the fourth inning, with two runs. Neither scored in the fifth inning, but LIU had their best inning of the game in the sixth; they scored five runs. The go-ahead hit came on a bases-clearing triple by Gio Ciaccio.
Penn State managed to score two more runs in the sixth inning. LIU scored one more run in the seventh, and neither scored for the remainder of the game. Nick DeSalvo earned the win for the Sharks. Chris Wasson, EJ Exposito, Michael Edelman and Jack Power all had two-hit games for the Sharks.
LIU won the rematch game 11-8, making this a 1-1 series. LIU’s overall record is now 2-1. They will finish up their weekend trip in Cary, NC against Monmouth today at 10am.
St. John’s University’s Red Storm also brought home a win on Saturday. They avenged Friday’s loss to Middle Tennessee’s Blue Raiders. St. John’s overcame a strong start by Middle Tennessee to win 6-5.
Middle Tennesse built up an early 5-0 lead after three innings off of Johnnies’ starter Ben Adams. He finished with four innings, five runs (1 earned) and two strikeouts.
The game flipped in the fourth inning when St. John’s posted a four-spot to cut the deficit to one. A two-run single by Jermaine White and RBI single by Kevin Michaels made it 5-4. In the fifth inning, Nick Cirelli tied the game with an RBI single to score Tate Ballestero. Kevin Michaels followed with a go-ahead RBI single to give St. John’s a 6-5 lead.
This comeback was possible by the great relief work of freshman Dylan Johnson making his collegiate debut. The sidearming righty fired four shutout innings with two strikeouts to allow his offense to come back into the game. The reliable Joe Jor Rodriguez took over and fired a clean 9th inning to lock down the save. Ballestero and Michaels both had three hits apiece for the Johnnies.
This win brought St. John’s overall record to 1-1. They lost the nightcap by the score of 12-6. Geoff Mosseau took the loss, he allowed three runs in one inning of work. The Johnnies offense was led by Michaels and Ballestero once again who had two hits each, as did David Glancy. They will finish off their weekend trip today at 11am against UNC-Wilmington.
In a similar feat to St. John’s, Stony Brook also avenged a loss on Saturday. While Stony Brook’s Seawolves lost to the McNeese State Cowboys 6-4 on Friday, the Seawolves prevailed over the Cowboys 7-3 on Saturday.
First of the year 🏃♂️
🌊🐺 x @evangiordano12 pic.twitter.com/sDIbbA7FwO
— Stony Brook Baseball (@StonyBrookBASE) February 19, 2022
McNeese took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI triple by Tre’ Obregon but it was all Seawolves after that.
They scored once in the second on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Cole Durkan, and they opened the game up with three-run fourth inning. RBI single by Stanton Leuthner, RBI double by Matt Brown-Eiring and sac fly by Derek Yalon was how they got it done.
In the sixth, Cole Durkan added an RBI double. Brown-Eiring stayed hot with an RBI triple in the eighth and Evan Giordano picked up right where he left off in 2021 with a solo shot to extend the lead to 7-3.
Colton Book went five shutout innings to earn his first collegiate win. Shane Paradine had a huge game offensively, notching three hits and three runs scored.
These two teams will play the rubber match today at 12:30.
Division-II:
2022 has not gotten off to a desirable start for Molloy as the Lions were swept by Tusculum University by the scores of 6-5 and 14-0. We will stick to Game 1.
The Lions jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on a two-run double by UNC-Wilmington transfer Matt Yip. Tusculum tied it in the fourth inning on an RBI double and RBI single. Molloy regained the lead, 3-2, on an RBI double by Tom Brady. The lead did not last long, as Tusculum answered right back in the home half of the fifth.
In the top of the sixth, David Franchi was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a single by Peter Theodorellis.
Stony Brook-transfer Brian Morrissey came on in relief of Charlie Cucchiara and fired a scoreless seventh inning. The Lions added a run on a solo shot by Jake McCarthy.
The lead would not hold, though, as Tusculum got to Morrissey with two runs in the seventh inning and one in the eighth with the go-ahead run scoring on an RBI single by Ortega.
In the top of the 9th, the Lions threatened. They got a leadoff single by Theodorellis. He was pinch-run for by Vinny Pecora who stole second and moved to third on an error. With the trying run 90-feet away, the Lions could not break through. A groundout, strikeout and pop out ended the game.
This brings Molloy’s overall record to 0-2. They will have a chance to avenge this loss today.
Overall, this was a good Saturday for New York baseball, with wins for LIU, St. John’s, and Stony Brook.
