by Mike Anderson
Overshadowed by the startup of the MLB season, college baseball returned this weekend. Series play opened up Friday night for most schools, including Long Island schools. There were 10 local teams in action on Friday. Let’s dive in and take a deeper look at how they all did.
Division I:
UConn, the #25 ranked team in the country, beat St. John’s handily 12-7 in their conference-opener. The Huskies ran away with it early, as St. John’s were playing catchup by a wide margin the whole game.
It all started with a six-run bottom of the first inning from UConn’s offense, and the biggest blow was a three-run homer from catcher Matt Donlan. St. John’s cut into the lead with an RBI single from left fielder David Glancy in the top of the third to make it 6-1, but UConn was not phased. An RBI single from Donlan in the bottom half of the inning restored their six-run lead, and a pair of RBI doubles in the fifth made it 9-1.
On the bump, Austin Peterson threw a gem for UConn, giving them six innings of one-run baseball. He only allowed five hits while striking out six, and he did not walk a batter.
The game was effectively over by that point, but the Johnnies did not waste their at-bats. After Peterson was pulled from the game, first baseman Nick Cirelli hit a home run in the top of the seventh. Then, shortstop Kevin Michaels hit a grand slam in the top of the eighth. However, the lead was simply too much for St. John’s to overcome, and UConn halted their rally in the ninth.
Peterson earned the win, improving to 6-0 with a 2.63 ERA. UConn is now 8-0 in his appearances.
UConn is now 22-7 on the year, while St. John’s fell to 11-19. Game two of the series begins at 1:00 p.m. Saturday in Connecticut.
The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) beat Hofstra 3-1 to win their fourth in a row. It was a pitcher’s duel between aces RJ Sales and Mark Faello, but it was Sales who came out victorious in the end.
Hofstra scored first on an RBI single by third baseman Ryan Morash in the top of the second. That lead was short lived, as the tying run scored on a wild pickoff attempt from Faello in the bottom of the fourth. After that, right fielder Ethan Baucom broke the tie with a two-run double to give UNCW their first lead.
A lead was all Sales needed, as he went six strong innings for UNCW. He only allowed one run on six hits, while striking out nine and walking one. His bullpen did the rest of the work for him, as three different pitchers all tossed a scoreless inning each to lock down their 3-1 victory. Hunter Hodges closed it out with his third save of the year, and Sales earned the win.
Faello gave a valiant effort, but came up empty-handed. He suffered the rare complete-game loss, going all eight innings for Hofstra. He allowed only three earned runs on three hits, striking out nine and walking one. He also hit a batter. Despite only allowing five baserunners, that was more than enough for UNCW on this Friday.
The two will rematch in North Carolina tomorrow, as game two starts at 4:00 p.m..
LIU held off Central Connecticut State 4-3 to earn another conference victory. A strong performance from their pitching staff helped lead them to the series-opening victory.
Ace pitcher Josh Loeschorn pitched a decent ballgame, giving up three earned runs in six innings pitched. He only allowed four hits, while striking out three and walking two.
Loeschorn’s offense provided him early run support when right fielder Michael Edelman hit an RBI double in the top of the first. After a couple of hit batsmen, designated hitter Connor Price drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0 LIU.
CCSU halved their deficit with a solo home run from shortstop Elliot Good in the bottom of the third. LIU answered immediately in the top of the fourth, when center fielder Giovanni Ciaccio hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. Then in the top of the fifth, Price drove his first home run of the year over the right field wall to make it 4-1.
Designated hitter Aidan Redahan made it just a one-run ballgame in the bottom of the sixth, when he hit a two-run single to make it 4-3. However, Loeschorn would escape the inning with the lead intact, and hand the ball off to left-hander Chris Buehler.
Buehler then retired each of the first seven hitters he faced, going 2.1 perfect innings with three strikeouts. LIU then turned to reliever Josh Gainer to get the final two outs, and he did. Gainer collected his third save of the year, finishing a perfect three-inning performance from the LIU bullpen.
The win improved LIU to 4-3 in conference play, and 18-11 overall. The two teams will meet again Saturday at 1:00 p.m..
UMass defeated Fordham 8-5 in a tale of two ballgames. Or perhaps, a tale of two big innings. Fortunately for UMass, their inning was bigger, allowing them to win the series-opener.
After left-handed pitcher Kevin Dow gave UMass four scoreless innings, their offense unloaded in the bottom of the fourth. UMass got all of their scoring out of the way, putting up an eight-run inning. Designated hitter Mike Gervasi broke the scoreless tie with a two-run homer, and was later followed with a two-RBI double from third baseman Jacob Sloss. RBIs from left fielder Collin Shapiro and shortstop Cole Hebble would make it 6-0. Center fielder Kevin Skagerland put it out of reach, driving a two-run single to cap off their eight-spot.
Center fielder Jason Coules got Fordham on the board with an RBI groundout in the top of the seventh inning. The score remained 8-1 until the top of the ninth, when Coules struck again with an RBI single. Designated hitter Nico Boza then drew a bases-loaded walk to force in another run. Shortstop CJ Vazquez reached on a fielder’s choice which scored another run. Finally, left fielder Cian Sahler hit an RBI single to right field, cutting their deficit down to three runs.
Now with the tying run at the plate, UMass turned to freshman Cole Koeppel, who got his batter to fly out. Koeppel recorded his first career save, and UMass held on for the victory. Dow went the first 8.2 innings before the meltdown, as he wound up allowing five earned runs on 12 hits. He still earned the win, improving to 5-1 on the year.
Game two between these two teams will be at 1:00 p.m. Saturday in Massachusetts.
Stony Brook blew out arch-rival Albany with a 12-3 win. Stony Brook played good baseball all-around, as they improved to 8-2 in conference play.
Stony Brook scored three runs on four hits before hitting into their first out, as catcher Shane Paradine doubled home the game’s first run. Right fielder Matt Brown-Eiring followed him with a two-run double. After a nice diving catch by first baseman Will Feil finally gave Albany an out, shortstop Stanton Leuthner singled home a run in right field.
Stony Brook led 4-0 after the first inning, and extended their lead to five on an RBI single from designated hitter David Alleva in the bottom of the third. Right fielder Michael Whalen cut into Stony Brook’s lead with a two-run double in the top of the sixth, but Stony Brook answered right away. An RBI double from Brown-Eiring and an RBI single from third baseman Evan Giordano made it 8-2 Stony Brook.
Stony Brook ran away with it in the bottom of the seventh. Leuthner hit a no-doubter to left field to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and then left fielder Evan Fox almost did the same. With two men aboard, Fox hit a fly ball over the left field wall, but a great effort by John Daly kept the ball in the ballpark. It still landed for an RBI double to make it 8-2. Then, with the bases loaded, Paradine lofted a two-run double down the left field line to make it 11-2.
In the bottom of the eighth, Leuthner capped off Stony Brook’s scoring by leading off with a triple and scoring on a wild pitch.
A garbage time run in the top of the ninth cut the score to 12-3, but Stony Brook would hold on to win by that score. Starter Ben Fero got the win by going five-plus innings, allowing only two earned runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked three, before Brendan Pattermann came in to get a 12-out save.
The two will meet again on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Joe Nathan Field in Stony Brook.
Division II:
Mercy beat Molloy in a wild 10-inning game to open up their series. Molloy led for most of the game, but Mercy drew even late to force a wild extra-inning period.
Designated hitter Peter Theodorellis started the scoring with an RBI double in the bottom of the third. For most of the game, that was all that starting pitcher Charlie Cucchiara needed. However, Mercy pulled through with a game-tying home run from designated hitter James Mattutat in the top of the eighth.
Both starters pitched a tremendous game, as both of them went nine innings each. Cucchiara only allowed one run on seven hits, striking out four and walking one. For Mercy, Jonathan Diforio only allowed one run on four hits, striking out six and walking one.
Tied at one apiece, the game went to the tenth, where Mercy erupted for four runs. On a sacrifice bunt attempt by first baseman Ryan Gonzalez, a throwing error scored two runs to break the tie. Right fielder Nathan Rodriguez then delivered a big RBI double to make it 4-1 Mercy. Another throwing error, this one by third baseman Chris Einemann, let the fourth run of the inning score to make it 5-1.
In the bottom of the tenth, Einemann made up for his mistake with a two-run homer. That cut the deficit in half for Molloy, but it was still too much for them to overcome. Mercy held on to win 5-3, earning Diforio his much-deserved win.
Both teams are now 5-2 in their conferences. Games two and three of this series will come as part of a doubleheader on Saturday. The first game starts at noon, and the second one is scheduled for 3:00 p.m..
Queens College improved to 13-9 with a comeback win over Staten Island to open up their series.
First baseman Matt Filip gave Queens an early 1-0 lead with an RBI groundout in the top of the second. However, a throwing error by third baseman Lou Antos led to two runs scoring and Staten Island taking their first lead of the day. Staten Island extended their lead with another two runs in the bottom of the fourth to go up 4-1.
Starting pitcher John Esposito protected that three-run lead and gave them seven solid innings. He only allowed one run on five hits, striking out four and walking two.
However, Queens was able to get to the Staten Island bullpen. In the top of the ninth, Queens played small ball to tie the game at 4-4. Filip drew a bases-loaded walk, and then designated hitter Reed Hoskins scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-3. Catcher Nick Barreiros then hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game, and a scoreless ninth from Daniel Gargano sent the game to extra innings.
After a couple of walks to start the tenth, Antos made up for his error by scoring the lead run on a passed ball. Shortstop Juan De La Rosa then drove in an insurance run with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3. Gargano locked down their comeback with a scoreless tenth, and Queens secured the victory.
The two teams will meet up tomorrow to finish the series with a doubleheader. Just like the Molloy-Mercy matchup, the games will start at noon and 3:00 p.m., respectively.
Division III:
Old Westbury split a doubleheader against St. Joseph’s Long Island on Friday, as game one went to Old Westbury and game two went to St. Joe’s.
Game one was a blowout in favor of Old Westbury, but it started with a bang for St. Joe’s. Back-to-back home runs in the top of the first made it 3-0. However, designated hitter Jacob Ford would tie the game in the bottom of the first with his own three-run homer.
Catcher Charlie Eisele gave Old Westbury the lead in the next inning by scoring on a passed ball. Old Westbury opened the game up with four runs in the bottom of the third to make it 8-3, and a sacrifice fly from shortstop Jaime Barrios in the bottom of the fourth extended it to 9-3.
Outfielder Brian Forbes, who homered in the first for St. Joe’s, finally snapped the scoring run from Old Westbury with an RBI double. The score was now 9-4, but Old Westbury took advantage of St. Joe’s mistakes to tack on two more.
Pitcher Patrick Quinn started and finished the game for Old Westbury, pitching a seven-inning complete game with eight strikeouts. He got the win, as Old Westbury trounced St. Joe’s 11-4.
Game two had even more scoring, as St. Joe’s won it 10-8. They scored five in the top of the second to draw first blood, highlighted by a three-run triple from catcher Hermes Abreu. Old Westbury would rally back, as a grand slam from right fielder Drew Robertson tied the game at five apiece in the bottom of the fourth.
Designated hitter Charles Rainone gave St. Joe’s the lead back with a two-run double in the top of the seventh. That opened up another five-run inning, as three more RBI singles ensued. Now 10-5 in St. Joe’s’ favor, Old Westbury would rally for three more to cut it to a two-run ballgame.
However, reliever Nicholas Dellitalia would go on to lock it down for St. Joe’s. He pitched to a five-out save, and secured the 10-8 win for St. Joe’s.
St. Joe’s now sits at 9-6, while Old Westbury is currently 7-16. Old Wesbtury will take on USMMA for a doubleheader on Saturday, with the games starting at noon and 3:00 p.m., respectively. Meanwhile, St. Joe’s will meet Farmingdale for a doubleheader on Saturday, with the games coming at noon and 2:00 p.m..
As for SUNY Maritime, they continued their successful 2022 campaign with a doubleheader sweep over Yeshiva.
Game one was over before it started, as Maritime scored 11 runs in the first inning. Three consecutive bases-loaded walks forced in the first three runs, and a grand slam from third baseman Freddy Forgione capped it off. The next four innings were scoreless, before left fielder Adam Mosca singled home a pair in the top of the sixth. Right fielder Logan Martinson capped the scoring with an RBI single in the top of the seventh.
Starting pitcher Niko Concha pitched a seven-inning complete game. He struck out six and walked none, only allowing two hits along the way.
Game two was almost a carbon copy, as Maritime blew out Yeshiva again 15-1. They scored ten through the first three innings, with seven coming in the top of the third. In the top of the seventh, Maritime capped it off with a five-spot. Forgione led the way for their offense again, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. The Ronkonkoma-native had five hits and seven RBIs on the day.
Five Maritime pitchers combined to allow just one run on seven hits. Matthew Demme, who started the game, earned the win. Their pitching staff did not issue a single walk between the two games.
Maritime is now 16-8 and 8-2 in the Skyline Conference. They will get Saturday off and then host a doubleheader on Sunday against USMMA. The first game starts at noon, and game two will start at 3:00 p.m..
