by Mike Anderson
Week seven of the NCAA baseball season is in full swing, as the weekend series officially kicked off Friday night. Long Island college teams had a decent night, going 4-3 overall between the seven teams in action. Let’s take a closer look at how each team did on the night.
Division I:
Rider University blew out St. John’s by a final score of 13-3 to open up a three-game, non-conference series. With a very solid performance all-around, Rider was able to continue their winning ways and take the early series lead.
St. John’s made an early impression in the top of the first inning when catcher Colin Wetterau singled home left fielder David Glancy for the game’s first run. However, that quick strike would be quickly undone, as Rider’s offense exploded for 12 runs over the second, third, and fourth innings.
It all started with a solo home run from catcher Socrates Bardatsos in the bottom of the second, which sparked a four-spot. St. John’s answered those four runs with two of their own on a two-run double from shortstop Kevin Michaels. That made it 4-3, but then came the rest of the aforementioned Rider barrage. The Broncs scored three more runs in the third and five more runs in the fourth to go up 12-3, effectively putting the game away.
Staked to a lot of run support, lefty Joe Papeo gave Rider five good innings, allowing just the three runs on five hits, striking out seven and walking two. He earned the win, improving to 3-2 on the year. Relievers Danny Kirwin and Brian Young combined for the final four innings, not surrendering a run en route to a 13-3 final score.
With the win, Rider improved to 14-10 overall, while St. John’s fell to 10-16. The two will play a doubleheader tomorrow to decide who wins the series. Game one starts at noon, while game two is scheduled for 3:00 p.m..
Hofstra racked up a big win against Charleston to open up their three-game series. Hofstra was able to even themselves up with Charleston in the CAA standings, as they secured an 8-6 victory at home. The game was ugly, as it saw very few hits between the two teams, as well as some control issues from both starting pitchers. However, Hofstra was able to come out on top, as they were propelled by a three-run inning.
Hofstra’s ace, Mark Faello, struggled early. He allowed a home run in each of the first two innings, and allowed five runs (four earned) through the first three innings. However, Hofstra’s lineup gave their ace a lot of run support to back him up.
Trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the third, right fielder Brian Morrell tripled home a pair to cut the deficit in half. Left fielder Jake Liberatore then drove in Morrell with an RBI single. Now trailing by one run, catcher Kevin Bruggeman tied the game with an RBI single of his own. Designated hitter Nick Marrero then broke the tie with a sacrifice fly. Now leading 6-5, Bruggeman would use his legs to manufacture another run. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then scored from second on another wild pitch. Hofstra led 7-5 after just three innings.
Faello settled down to throw three scoreless innings after being given the lead. In the bottom of the fourth, Morrell stretched that lead to three runs with an RBI single. Faello wound up going six innings, allowing four earned runs on just five hits while striking out four and walking four. He handed the ball off to Aljo Sujak in the top of the seventh, who gave Hofstra an eight-out hold.
However, things got dicey in the top of the ninth, as an RBI single from first baseman Preston Hall brought the winning run up to the plate. With two outs, Hofstra turned to Michael O’Hanlon, who walked the first batter he faced to put the winning run on base. However, O’Hanlon struck out the next batter to record his second save of the season.
Morrell and Bruggeman were the standouts in Hofstra’s lineup, as both went 2-for-4. Morrell drove in three, while Bruggeman drove in two.
Hofstra is now 11-9 overall, but 3-1 in CAA play. They will play a doubleheader against Charleston tomorrow, with the first pitches coming at 11:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively.
LIU won their second 10-inning thriller in a row, as they walked-off Merrimack College to take a 6-5 win. Of course, LIU beat Hofstra 4-3 in 10 innings on Wednesday. Both starters struggled, but strong performances from both bullpens helped settle this game down.
Merrimack put up a three-spot in the top of the first off of LIU’s ace, Josh Loeschorn. However, shortstop EJ Exposito would get them one run back with a two-out solo blast to make it 3-1.
In the bottom of the third, designated hitter Carlton Harper worked a bases-loaded walk to force in a run. Third baseman Christopher Wasson then cached in and gave LIU their first lead of the day with a two-run single. They added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth when left fielder Seth Surrett hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3.
After allowing three in the opening frame, Loeschorn settled down nicely. However, shortstop Alex Haba cut the two-run lead in half by reaching on a run-scoring error from Loeschorn himself. The score was 5-4 until the top of the seventh, when catcher Kurtis Stadnicki tied the game with an RBI double.
With the game tied at 5-5, LIU handed the ball to Josh Gainer, who went on to keep Merrimack off the board for the rest of the day. He was matched tit-for-tat by Merrimack’s Timmy Kalantzakos, sending the game to extras tied at five.
Gainer tossed three shutout innings in relief, finishing his outing with a scoreless tenth. Kalantzakos almost did the same, but with two outs in the bottom of the tenth, LIU prevailed.
The Sharks’ offense played small ball, starting with a leadoff hit from Wasson. They bunted him over to second, and then he advanced to third on a passed ball. After an infield single and a hit by pitch, LIU had the bases loaded and only one out. However, a strikeout put their walk-off chances in jeopardy. But Wasson was able to get the job done himself, as another passed ball allowed him to score the winning run. LIU won the opener, and improved to 15-10 on the year.
They were also able to even up their conference record, as they are now 2-2 in the NEC. The two teams will rematch tomorrow at 1:00 p.m., as LIU will look to clinch a series win.
Saint Louis won their conference opener against Fordham, beating them in a tight 2-1 game. It was a pitcher’s duel from the start, but ultimately Saint Louis came up bigger than Fordham did.
Logan Schmitt toed the rubber for Saint Louis and gave them seven dominant innings. He allowed only six hits and two walks, while striking out seven during his scoreless masterpiece. He was opposed by Gabe Karslo, who pitched two hitless innings in his start. However, it was Cameron Knox who did the bulk of the work for Fordham, as he pitched five innings out of the bullpen. He allowed only two earned runs on six hits, fanning six and walking two. He was tagged with the loss, while Schmitt earned his fourth win of the year.
Right fielder Cole Smith started the scoring with an RBI single to right field in the top of the fourth. The score would stay 1-0 until the top of the seventh when shortstop Matt Happ dragged a bunt to third base that scored a run.
In the bottom of the eighth, Fordham made a comeback bid that fell short. Designated hitter Sebastian Mexico hit an RBI single to center field to make it 2-1. However, reliever Cameron Pferrer would come on to put the fire out. He escaped trouble in the eighth, and then shut the door in the ninth for his fourth save of the year. Saint Louis was able to win by that score, and improve to 13-10 overall.
The two will go at it again tomorrow in the Bronx, as they will play a doubleheader. The first game starts at 1:00 p.m., while the nightcap begins at 4:30 p.m..
Hartford upset Stony Brook with a blowout 10-3 win to capture the opening game of their three-game series. Their offense slugged four home runs en route to a big scoring output versus Stony Brook.
After an RBI double by catcher Kevin Koziol in the top of the second, left fielder Ryan Knight clocked a two-run homer to left field to make it 3-0 Hartford. In the bottom of the third, right fielder Ben Maycock added to the lead with a two-run shot.
Down 5-0, Stony Brook cut into the lead on a two-run homer from left fielder Matt Brown-Eiring. They made it a two-run game after infielder Matt Miceli reached on a run-scoring error. However, Hartford ran away with it after that.
In the bottom of the fifth, designated hitter Brett Anderson launched a two-run homer to make it 8-3 Hartford. Just a couple of batters later, Knight hit his second two-run homer of the day to make it 10-3.
There was no scoring after the fifth inning, as reliever Robert Chaney finished the rest of the game for Hartford. He pitched five scoreless innings in relief for them, allowing only two hits while whiffing five and walking one
Hartford claimed their second win of the year by beating the first-place Stony Brook. They will meet again tomorrow in a doubleheader, with game one starting at 11:00 a.m.. Game two is currently scheduled for 3:00 p.m., according to Hartford’s website.
Division II:
Queens College remained unbeaten in conference play with a 16-0 beatdown of Lincoln University. Everything went right in the series-opener for Queens, as they beat up on their ECC foes.
Queens scored as quickly as a baseball team can when center fielder Jayson Rodopoulos led off the game with a home run. His leadoff bomb sparked a five-run first inning. The offense continuously beat down on LU’s pitching, as they tacked on two more in the third to go up 7-0. Their offense put up the proverbial “snowman” as they scored eight runs in the fifth to make it 15-0. It started with a two-run homer from second baseman Marc Cisco, and was later followed with a two-run single from first baseman Matt Filip. Soon after, catcher Nick Barreiros blew the doors off with a grand slam.
Meanwhile, Julien Arcos was busy having the day of his life, as he pitched a complete game shutout, racking up 11 strikeouts to only one walk. He scattered eight hits, but left them all stranded. After a rough start to his season, he has hit his stride. Arcos has allowed just two earned runs on 11 hits over 15 innings pitched while striking out 18 in his last two starts.
Designated hitter Reed Hoskins hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth to tack on the finishing touches of their 16-run outburst.
Queens is now over .500 this year at 10-9, and 4-0 in conference play. They will host a doubleheader tomorrow in Flushing, with game one starting at noon and game two starting at 3:00 p.m..
Molloy handed St. Thomas Aquinas their first conference loss of the season with a 17-7 blowout victory. Or, was it really a blowout?
The game was high scoring (obviously) but it was also very close until Molloy completely ran away with it, and then some.
St. Thomas Aquinas scored a run in the bottom of the first, but Molloy would draw even in the top of the third. Molloy then jumped in front with a three-spot in the top of the fourth, but Aquinas cut into their deficit with a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth. Now leading 4-2 in the top of the sixth, first baseman Patrick Hoffman homered to spark another three-spot.
Now trailing 7-2, Aquinas would respond with four of their own in the bottom of the sixth to make it 7-6. The two teams then traded seventh inning runs to make it 8-7 Molloy, setting up the final act of Molloy’s offense. Molloy scored four in the fifth and five in the ninth to take a ten-run lead. This time, Aquinas could not come back and make a game out of it, as Molloy held on to win by that score.
Molloy’s offense was ridiculous, racking up 16 hits and seven walks. Their final eight hitters in the lineup all hit safely and drove in a run. Third baseman Chris Einemann led the offense from the eight-hole in the lineup, going 4-for-5 with five RBIs. Second baseman Ryan Keane had an incredible feat, as he hit three sacrifice flies. He went 2-for-3 out of the ninth spot in the lineup, collecting four RBIs.
Brian Morrisey came on to end the madness for Molloy and did just that, as he recorded the final seven outs, just surrendering one hit while striking out a pair. Molloy improved to 18-6 overall on the season.
Like everybody else on this list, these two teams will play a doubleheader tomorrow to determine the series outcome. The first game starts at noon, while game two starts at 3:00 p.m..
Division III:
There were no Div-III teams in action on Friday night. All Long Island Div-III teams (except for USMMA) will be in action on Saturday. Farmingdale will host Manhattanville for a doubleheader, with start times at noon and 2:00 p.m., respectively. St. Joseph’s will host a doubleheader against Mount Saint Mary’s, with game one starting at 11:00 a.m. and game two scheduled for 2:00 p.m.. Old Westbury will take on Purchase for a doubleheader with the same start times: 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.. SUNY Maritime will host a doubleheader against St. Joseph’s Brooklyn, with the games starting at noon and 3:00 p.m..
