Friday night saw lots of action in the college baseball world, as many teams either kicked off week two, or opened up their season. Let’s take a look and dive deeper into how some of the local teams did on February 25.
Division-I
St. John’s had a rough day, being the footnote in a historic performance by the Oregon Ducks. Oregon blew out St. John’s by a final score of 23-5, en route to their second straight win. The 23 runs marked a program record for Oregon, as they reached it with a 13-run bottom of the eighth inning after entering the inning only up 10-5. In their last game, which was last Monday, Oregon scored 21 and beat San Diego after losing their first three games. Having said all of that, the game was not nearly as uncompetitive as it may seem.
Oregon jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after two innings, fueled by a pair of Oregon two-run homers. That score remained until the top of the fifth inning, when St. John’s put up a three-spot on a David Glancy three-run homer. In the top of the sixth inning, pinch-hitter Carlos Hidalgo drove in third baseman Marty Higgins to make it a one-run game.
Seeing their lead cut down to one run sparked the Oregon lineup, as they manufactured five runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a commanding 10-4 lead. St. John’s shot themselves in their collective foot several times in that inning, as they committed a passed ball, a balk, a hit batsmen, and an error, all of which led to runs scoring.
As mentioned earlier, that wasn’t even Oregon’s biggest inning, as the bottom of the eighth saw them hang a baker’s dozen on the Johnnies. They almost batted around twice, as they racked up eight hits, two of which were doubles, and drew six walks. Four of those walks came with the bases loaded. They also scored one run on a wild pitch, one run on a hit by pitch, and did not hit a home run during the barrage.
Oregon tallied 18 total hits and drew 12 walks against St. John’s pitching staff. Shortstop Josh Kasevich led the way for Oregon with three hits, as the Ducks lineup produced seven hitters who had a multi-hit game. Despite struggling through 5.1 innings, Adam Maier earned his first run of the year while allowing four earned runs on six hits.
In their five games, Oregon has scored 53 runs, but has allowed 41. They have scored 44 runs in their last two games.
St. John’s sent six pitchers to the mound, all of whom surrendered at least one run. All 23 runs were earned. On the bright side, Jackson Tucker and Glancy both had three hits at the top of their lineup.
Oregon now stands at 2-3, while St. John’s falls to 1-4. The two will meet up again tomorrow night at 5:00 p.m. EST.
Virginia Tech had their way with Fordham on Friday, as they improved to 4-0 with a 12-0 shutout win over the Rams. The two met up down in Blacksburg, Virginia, with Fordham coming off of its first victory of the year Wednesday afternoon. After shutting out Sacred Heart 19-0, Fordham found themselves on the other end of a shutout.
Left fielder Jack Hurley got the scoring started, driving a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the second. They distanced themselves further with a four-run third inning, capped off by an Eduardo Malinowski two-run home run. After another Hurley home run in the sixth (two run shot), Virginia Tech led 7-0.
The bottom of the eighth saw some stat-padding, as Virginia Tech tacked on five more, including three on a double by shortstop Tanner Schobel.
The Virginia Tech offense made Fordham’s defense work, as they struck out only one time on the night. The offense roughed up starter Gabe Karslo, who allowed five earned runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings while walking three and striking out none. Eight of Virginia Tech’s 11 hits were for extra bases, including four doubles, a triple, and three home runs.
Hurley led the way for the Virginia Tech offense by reaching base four times in four plate appearances. He was 3-for-3 with two homers, three RBIs, and a walk. Schobel drove in a team-high four runs, courtesy of his three-run double.
Griffin Green got the start for Virginia Tech and gave them six scoreless innings, only surrendering two hits and one walk while striking out five. Jonah Hurney and Sean Fisher combined to finish the job, working three hitless innings between the two. Hurney went two perfect innings while striking out five, while Fisher tossed a hitless ninth inning and struck out two. Green earned the win,and is now 2-0 on the year.
Fordham is now 1-4 and will look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon, as game two between these two teams will start at 2:00 p.m.
LIU split a double-header against Washington State, being played in Peoria, Arizona. They won the first game 8-3 but dropped the nightcap 8-0. This comes a day after Washington State took the first game of this series, 10-0.
Washington State drew first blood in game one with a first-inning, two-run homer by first baseman Jacob McKeon. Right after that, DH Bryce Matthews went back-to-back with him, hitting a solo shot to extend their lead to 3-0. However, LIU came crawling back.
Right fielder Michael Edelman doubled home Jack Power with LIU’s first run, and later scored on a Giovanni Ciaccio RBI single. Now down 3-2 in the top of the fifth, Edelman struck again, tying the game with his second RBI double of the afternoon. The Sharks would leave Edelman stranded, but strike back in the top of the sixth. RJ Latkowski gave LIU their first lead of the day with a two-run double in the right-center field gap, and would then score on a Power RBI double. Ciaccio then doubled home Power to tack on some more insurance.
After being down 3-0 after one inning, LIU entered the bottom of the ninth leading 8-3. Josh Gainer capped off a nine-out save by getting Elijah Hainline to ground out back to himself. Gainer saved the win for Joshua Loeschorn, who went five innings, allowing three earned runs while striking out six. Loeschorn is now 2-0, while Gainer’s three scoreless innings gave him now 7.1 scoreless innings of work on the season.
Edelman had a huge game one, reaching base safely five times in five trips to the plate. He was 3-for-3 with two doubles, two walks, two RBIs, and three steals. Ciaccio contributed two hits and three RBIs as well while Power provided three hits, two doubles, an RBI, and three runs scored from the ninth spot in the order. They had 13 hits overall.
Game two went in Washington State’s favor, as they pulled off a complete 180-degree turnaround. The offense scored eight runs on ten hits while the pitching staff combined for a two-hit shutout.
McKabe Cottrell got the ball and delivered seven scoreless innings with just the two hits and one walk for Washington State. He struck out eight while throwing 92 pitches. His offense supported him early and often, as they scored first with a pair in the second, and followed it with a pair in the third and another three runs in the fourth.
Third baseman Jack Smith led the way for Washington State with three hits. Smith, along with catcher Will Cresswell and center fielder Hylan Hall, all collected 2 RBIs each.
They beat up LIU starter Jarod Wade pretty badly, as he surrendered seven earned runs in just 3.2 innings. However, left-hander Evan Panjwani was able to stop the bleeding and hurled 4.1 innings out of the bullpen. He allowed only one earned run while striking out three and walking none.
Cottrell earned his first win of the year once Dakota Hawkins officially slammed the door with two perfect innings out of the pen, striking out four in the process.
After splitting the doubleheader, LIU sits at 3-4, and will look to split the four-game set tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. EST.
Hofstra opened up their 2022 campaign with a doubleheader down in Sugar Land, Texas, as they took on Houston Baptist and split the twinbill.
They won game one behind a seven-inning complete game by Mark Faello. He only gave up one earned run on four hits, while walking two and striking out five.
The game was scoreless until the fifth, when DH Sean Flaherty doubled home Ryan Morash and Brian Morell. Houston Baptist answered immediately with a run in the bottom of the fifth, as catcher Kevin Ortiz scored on a Faello wild pitch. However, Faello got through the inning with the lead still intact.
Hofstra tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh when catcher Kevin Bruggeman homered to right center. Leading 3-1 in the last of the seventh, Faello stranded a two-out walk to secure the game one victory for the Pride.
Game two was much more dramatic, as the nine-inning half of the doubleheader needed all nine innings to crown a victor.
Houston Baptist scratched across three runs in the bottom of the first to take an early 3-0 lead. It could have been more, but a perfect relay throw by shortstop Michael Florides gunned down a runner at the plate.
Game two starter for Hofstra, John Mikolaicyk, pitched very well after a rough first inning. He did not surrender a run after that, and went 6.1 innings, tallying 10 strikeouts with only one walk.
Opposite Mikolaicyk was Daxton Tinker, who pitched five strong innings in his start for Houston Baptist. He allowed one earned run on five hits while striking out four and walking one.
With Mikolaicyk settling in and keeping his team in it, Hofstra was able to get on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly by left fielder Will Kennedy. The game remained 3-1 until the top of the ninth, when Hofstra’s offense broke through again. With a runner on third and only one out, Steve Harrington hit a game-tying, pinch-hit, two-run homer to knot the game up at three apiece.
However, that thrill was short-lived for Hofstra. After a leadoff double by Brennen Bales and a sacrifice bunt advanced the winning run to third, Houston Baptist sent up pinch-hitter Dawson Woods to try to win the game. However, he would need to do no such thing, as a balk was called, and the walkoff run scored. Houston Baptist captured their first win of the season after an 0-6 start.
With Hofstra now at 1-1, they will get Saturday off and come back on Sunday for the rubber game of this three-game series versus Houston Baptist. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. (1:30 EST).
The University of South Florida took the opening game of a three-game series against Stony Brook, coming from behind late to beat them. Stony Brook scored first when catcher Shane Paradine singled home shortstop Stanton Leuthner in the top of the first. The game remained 1-0 until the top of the sixth, when Evan Fox added to Stony Brook’s lead with an RBI single.
The game was a pitcher’s duel that ended earlier than hoped for, as Stony Brook’s ace, Nick DeGennaro, was removed from the game just 62 pitches in. He had gone 4.2 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk while whiffing five. On the other end, Jack Jasiak did a good job holding down the fort for USF, as he surrendered just the two runs (one earned) on three hits. He struck out eight in six innings of work without walking anyone.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth, third baseman Carmine Lane broke up the shutout with an RBI single to cut the deficit in half. Right-hander Kyle Johnson then entered the game to limit the damage. USF entered the bottom of the eighth still trailing 2-1 when the first three hitters reached base off of Johnson. After that, shortstop Keanu Jacobs-Guishard drew a bases-loaded walk off of Andrew Ledbetter to tie the game at two. Later that inning, catcher Nelson Rivera worked a four-pitch walk off of Ledbetter, walking in the go-ahead run. Both runs were earned to Johnson.
Now leading 3-2 in the top of the ninth, right-hander Orion Kerkering got the ball and sealed the deal. He tossed a nine-pitch, 1-2-3 inning to record his first save of the year.
With the comeback, South Florida is now 2-2, and Stony Brook is now 1-3. The two will rematch tomorrow at 6:30 p.m., with Stony Brook looking to even up the series down in Tampa, Florida.
Division-II
After being swept in their opening series, Molloy swept a morning-afternoon doubleheader against Stonehill College. Both games were very high scoring, but the first game only saw scoring from Molloy.
Playing down in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Molloy played the role of “home team” in this game. Their bats enjoyed the warm weather, as leadoff-hitting center fielder Garrett Scavelli hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first, setting the tone for the offense. One run was all they needed, but they scored 15 more, winning game one by a score of 16-0.
The lineup produced 15 hits, including four home runs by Scavelli, right fielder Matt Overton, first baseman Jake McCarthy, and left fielder Chris Peralta. Peralta came out as a pinch-hitter in garbage time, and made the most of it with his three-run blast in the top of the eighth. Both he and McCarthy had three RBIs, which co-led the lineup.
Meanwhile, on the bump, Charlie Cucchiara hurled seven scoreless innings en route to earning his first win of the year. He struck out six and walked one, scattering just five hits. Connor Huckemeyer got the final six outs for Molloy, pitching in an obvious non-save situation. He struck out five and walked none while allowing two hits in his two innings of work.
Game two was much more competitive, but Molloy still found a way to win. Now swapping roles, Molloy was the road team and batted first. They took advantage of that instantly, scratching across a pair in the top of the first and then adding another two in the top of the second. However, three run-scoring doubles by Stonehill tied the game up at four in the bottom of the second.
In the top of the third, Molloy took the lead back on Overton’s second home run of the afternoon, as he hit a solo shot to give them a 5-4 lead. Stonehill had an answer for them again, though, when DH Blaine Lidsky homered in the bottom of the fifth to tie it up. Catcher Matt Yip delivered the biggest hit in the top of the sixth, when he hit a two-run homer to give Molloy a 7-5 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, McCarthy, now playing third base, made a big error that led to a run being scored.
With the lead at just one run, Molloy turned to Peter Theodorellis. He retired the first two hitters before Taylor Gaspa singled to put the tying run on base. However, Theodorellis induced a ground out to the second baseman, and Molloy held on for the win, 7-6.
The sweep improved Molloy to 2-3 thus far. They will stay in Myrtle Beach tomorrow and play one game against Wilmington University, starting at 11:00 a.m..
