With the playoffs arriving for Divisions 2 and 3 and approaching for Division 1, it was a light day for college baseball on Long Island, as 10 teams combined to play nine games. In total, Hofstra, St. John’s, LIU, Stony Brook, Fordham, Molloy, Queens, USMMA, Farmingdale State and St. Joseph’s played.
DIVISION I:
Hofstra 6, James Madison University 5
Hofstra struck first in this game, scoring two runs in the first two innings. Brian Morrell started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI single, and Michael Florides added another RBI single in the bottom of the second to make it 2-0
After going scoreless through the first four innings, James Madison broke through in the fifth inning, scoring four runs to take a 4-2 lead. Kyle Novak tied the game with an RBI double, and Fenwick Trimble gave them the lead on the next at-bat with a two-run home run. Hofstra got a run back in the bottom of the seventh inning on an RBI single by Jake Liberatore, but James Madison scored again in the top of the eighth inning on a fielder’s choice to make it 5-3.
Hofstra wasted no time in the bottom of the ninth inning mounting their comeback. Kevin Bruggeman started the inning with a walk. He advanced to third on the next at-bat on a double by Steve Harrington. In the third at-bat of the inning, Liberatore struck again, hitting a three-run, walk-off home run to give Hofstra the win.
Aljo Sujak got the win for Hofstra, and Lliam Grubbs took the loss for James Madison.
St. John’s 11, Georgetown 8
Georgetown scored first, drawing a bases loaded walk in the second inning. St. John’s immediately responded in the bottom of the second, tying the game on an RBI single from Colin Wetterau. St. John’s added two more runs on a two-run home run by Nick Cirelli.
Georgetown scored another run in the fifth inning on a fielder’s choice, but St. John’s kept adding on, scoring three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Paul Orbon drew a bases loaded walk and Chris Conniff hit a two-run single to give St. John’s a 6-2 lead. Georgetown added two more runs in the sixth on a sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Ethan Stern, but St. John’s got a run back on an RBI single from Cirelli.
St. John’s kept pushing their lead, scoring four runs in the seventh inning to give them an 11-4 lead. Conniff and Jackson Tucker hit RBI singles, and David Glancy hit a two-run double. Georgetown responded with four runs of their own in the eighth inning to make it an 11-8 game. Jake Hyde hit an RBI double, Stern added an RBI single and scored on a wild pitch and Ubaldo Lopez hit an RBI groundout.
However, their comeback attempts were stifled, as Chuck Sanzio came in and finished the game for St. John’s. Dylan Johnson got the win for St. John’s, and Carter Bosch took the loss.
LIU 2, Fairleigh Dickinson University 5
Both starting pitchers in this game were locked in, combining to only allow one hit in 11 innings. After both teams went scoreless, Fairleigh Dickinson broke the tie, scoring on an RBI single by Justin Sierra. LIU responded two innings later in the seventh, tying the game at 1 with a solo home run by Colin Adams.
Both teams continued to trade scoreless innings, eventually going into extra innings tied at one. After a walk, single and hit batsmen loaded the bases for Fairleigh Dickinson, Joan Sosa provided the big hit, clearing the bases with a three-run triple. They added another run later in the inning when Luke Cantwell reached on an error.
LIU scored a run in the bottom of the tenth on a solo home run from EJ Exposito, but it wasn’t enough, as they took the 5-2 loss.
Nick Evangelista got the win in relief for Fairleigh Dickinson, and Josh Gainer took the loss for LIU.
Stony Brook 7, Binghamton 5
Go ahead 💣‼️#NCAABaseball x 🎥 @StonyBrookBASE pic.twitter.com/o5dPpfll2A
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) May 14, 2022
Stony Brook scored first in this inning, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Matt Brown-Eiring reached on an error. However, Binghamton responded, taking the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Colin Mason tied the game with an RBI single, and Cavan Tully and Evin Sullivan broke the tie with RBI doubles.
Stony Brook tied the game up in the fourth inning, scoring two runs. Ryan Micheli hit an RBI double, and Derek Yalon tied the game up on the next at-bat with an RBI single. Once again, Binghamton answered back, scoring a run in the fourth and fifth innings to take the lead. Mason hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and Connor Aoki hit an RBI in the fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead.
Stony Brook began to come back in the later innings. Chris Leone got a run back in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly, and Yalon tied the game in the eighth inning with another RBI single. In the top of the ninth inning, Brown-Eiring provided the game winning hit, hitting a two-run home run to give Stony Brook a 7-5 lead.
Josh O’Neill pitched five innings of relief for Stony Brook, closing out the game in the ninth inning and earning the win. Jack Collins took the loss for Binghamton
Fordham 11, St. Bonaventure 7
After both teams went scoreless in the first inning, Fordham broke through with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Richard Grund hit an RBI groundout, and T.J. Wachter and Jake Guercio followed him up with back-to-back RBI doubles to make it a 3-0 game.
St. Bonaventure responded in the top of the third, breaking through with five runs. Garrett Boldt and Matthew Williams hit RBI singles, and Jake Biscailuz gave them the lead with a two-run triple. Branden Myers added another run with an RBI single of his own.
Fordham got two runs back in the fourth with a two-run home run by Jason Coules, but St. Bonaventure got those runs back in the top of the fifth inning. Chet Szablewski hit a sacrifice home run, and Biscailuz added an RBI single.
However, Fordham controlled the game after that point, scoring the last six runs of the game. Jack Harnisch started the scoring in the fifth inning, tying the game at seven with a two-run double. Later in the inning, Grund hit an RBI single to give them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. They added three more runs in the last three innings on a sacrifice fly, wild pitch, and RBI single by Guercio to give them the 11-7 win.
Joseph Quintal got the win for Fordham, and Kyle Caringi took the loss for St. Bonaventure.
DIVISION II:
End of 1: Garrett Scavelli crushes a 3-R shot to tie the game at 3-3 pic.twitter.com/feCqjySG5e
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 14, 2022
Molloy 6, Queens 5 (ECC Championship)
Molloy captured their second straight ECC Championship with a marathon, rain-soaked pair of victories against Queens. Here’s how it went down.
Both teams came out of the gate swinging in this game, each scoring three runs in the first inning. Andrew Smith started the scoring for Queens with an RBI single, and Juan De La Rosa gave them a 3-0 lead with a two-run triple. Molloy responded in the bottom of the first, tying the game on a three-run home run by Garrett Scavelli.
Queens got a home run of their own in the third inning, this time a solo shot by Lou Antos to give them a 4-3 lead. However, Molloy immediately got the run back, tying the game at 4 with a single by Peter Theodorellis.
Queens broke the tie again in the fifth inning, scoring a run on a single by Matt Filip. Both teams traded zeroes for two innings before Molloy came back in the bottom of the eighth inning. Patrick Hoffman tied the game back up with a single, and Anthony Manisero gave them a 6-5 lead with another RBI single. Brian Morrisey finished the game on the mound for Molloy, pitching the last seven innings and only allowing a run.
Morrisey got the win for Molloy, and Jordan Sanabria took the loss for Queens.
Molloy 12, Queens 10
Molloy kept scoring going into game two, scoring two runs in the first inning. Thomas Brady started the scoring with an RBI double, and David Franchi hit a sacrifice fly before a lengthy rain delay came. Queens responded in the third inning, scoring three runs to retake the lead. Marc Cisco and Lou Antos hit an RBI double to tie the game, and Matt Filip gave them a 3-2 lead with an RBI single.
The game would continue going back and forth, as Molloy tied it in the fourth inning on a fielder’s choice from Peter Theodorellis. Queens scored three more runs in the fourth inning on an RBI double from Antos and a two-run single from Filip. However, Molloy scored four runs of their own to take a 7-6 lead. Franchi and Patrick Hoffman hit RBI singles, and two runs scored on an RBI single from Theodorellis: one on the single and another on an error.
Not to be outdone, Queens scored four runs of their own to take a 10-7 lead. Jayson Rodopoulos hit an RBI single, and Filip provided a three-run double. Molloy rallied late in the game, scoring the last five runs of the game to take a 12-10 lead. Garrett Scavelli started the scoring with a solo home run, and they scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning. Theodorellis hit an RBI single and scored on an error to tie the game, and Matt Overton gave them the lead with an RBI double. They added another run of insurance in the ninth inning on an RBI double by Scavelli to make it a 12-10 game.
Theodorellis pitched the last four innings for Molloy, holding Queens scoreless, striking out seven batters, and earning the win. Liam Pulsipher took the loss for Queens. Theodorellis was named Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament.
DIVISION III:
USMMA 4, Farmingdale State 3
Final: USMMA 4, Farmingdale 3 (10 innings)
WP: Tyler Reistetter (10 IP, 2 ER, 11 Ks)Noah Herdman with a walk-off single to score Brayden O’Connell
USMMA advances to the Skyline Conference championship against winner of Farmingdale-St. Joseph’s pic.twitter.com/0ujX19FdKI
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 14, 2022
This was the winner’s bracket game of the Skyline Conference tournament.
After both teams went scoreless in the first inning, Farmingdale got on the board first with a run in the second inning. Aidan Hutchins hit an RBI single to make it a 1-0 game. USMMA responded in the third inning, scoring two runs. Joey Zanetti tied the game with a sacrifice fly, and Jack Millen gave them a 2-1 lead with an RBI single.
USMMA added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Zanetti reached on a fielder’s choice. Farmingdale came back in the later innings, scoring in the seventh and ninth innings to tie the game. In the seventh inning, Nolan White scored on an error on a pickoff attempt. They tied the game in the top of the ninth inning on an RBI single from Vincent Napolitano.
After a scoreless top of the tenth in extra innings, USMMA started a rally. After Brayden O’Connell walked and stole second base to start the inning, Farmingdale intentionally walked Zanetti. After a popout, Noah Herdman came up clutch, hitting a walk-off RBI single to give USMMA the 4-3 lead.
Tyler Reistetter got the win for USMMA, pitching all ten innings. Joe Marino took the loss for Farmingdale.
St. Joseph’s 8, Farmingdale State 4
This was an elimination game for both teams in the Skyline Conference tournament.
St. Joseph’s got on the board first in this game, scoring three runs within the first three innings. Paul Gugliuzzo started the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning, and John Lynch added an RBI single of his own. In the third inning, Hermes Abreu hit a sacrifice fly to give St. Joseph’s the early 3-0 lead.
They added three more runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 6-0 lead. Phil Krpata hit an RBI double, and Ryan Decoursey hit a two-run single. Farmingdale got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring three runs of their own. Daniel Molina hit a two-run single, and Justin Dimartino hit an RBI double to make it a 6-3 game.
St. Joseph’s responded, scoring two more runs in the top of the eighth inning on RBI doubles from Decoursey and Lynch. Farmingdale got a run on an error to make it an 8-4 game, but they couldn’t mount a comeback otherwise.
Ryan Foran got the win for St. Joseph’s, and Dante Morabito got a three-inning save. Danny Wolf took the loss for Farmingdale. The Rams season is over while St. Joseph’s was able to stave off elimination and will face USMMA in the Skyline Conference finals at noon. They’ll have to win twice.
