by Mike Merolle
Despite the rainy weather, quality baseball was played by the local schools on Saturday. A freshman impressed yet again on the Division I stage and there were a few Division III doubleheaders.
Division I
Stony Brook 4 — Siena 3
It was a clean sweep for Stony Brook this weekend in their home-opening series against Siena. The Seawolves hosted the matchup in Joe Nathan Field on Saturday afternoon. Stony Brook got their seventh win of the season after coming out on top, 4-3.
Stony Brook got the scoring going early. Erik Paulsen Jr. hit an RBI double in the first inning to score Cam Santerre. Following that, Matt Brown-Eiring hit a single that led to Paulsen scoring on a throwing error by Siena’s left fielder Sean Camacho.
Santerre made a surprising play in the fifth when he stole home plate to extend the Seawolves’ lead to 3-0. Brown-Eiring hit an RBI double to make it four runs.
Looking for a late rally, Siena’s Danny Barbero hit a 2 RBI single in the eighth. Austin Rachiele followed with an RBI double to make it a one-run game. Ty Stout closed the game for Stony Brook earning a save and securing the Seawolves’ victory.
Freshman Nick Rizzo received the win after striking out four batters while only allowing three hits and zero runs in seven innings on the mound for Stony Brook. Billy Rozakis was the losing pitcher for Siena after allowing three runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings pitched.
Stony Brook is back to work this Friday when they take on Seton Hall in New Jersey.
LIU 6 — Le Moyne 8
After taking a 2-0 series lead, LIU fell to Le Moyne in Saturday’s matchup. The Sharks hosted the game at LIU Park in Brookville and lost 8-6.
LIU got the offense going early as they held a 5-0 lead at one point in the fourth inning. Jake Mastillo put the Sharks on the board in the first with an RBI double. Mastillo wasn’t finished adding runs as he stole home later that inning. Jarod Wade added to it with an RBI single in the first. In the fourth, Matthew McGurk and Seth Surrett each hit RBI singles.
Something was said in the Le Moyne dugout because they responded with eight unanswered runs. Six of the runs came in the fifth inning. Mike Whelehan and Dewey Roden had RBI singles. Nick Nevens hit a 2 RBI double, and Brady Fureno followed with a two-run homer to left field. Jason Boule hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Wyatt Patchett hit an RBI single in the eighth to make it eight Le Moyne runs.
McGurk hit a home run in the ninth for LIU but the damage was already done and the Sharks conceded their ninth game of the season. Jared Hughes received the loss for the Sharks after allowing six runs on eight hits in four innings on the mound.
LIU will head to Queens on Tuesday to take on St. John’s in a single-game series at 3 pm.
Hofstra — St. John’s (postponed)
Hofstra and St. John’s contest was pushed to Sunday at noon due to rain. The Johnnies won the doubleheader on Friday and the series will close on Sunday.
Division-II:
Molloy 12 — Lynn 4
The Molloy Lions impressed in the Florida heat on Saturday in their morning matchup against Lynn. The Lions earned their 10th win of the season after defeating Lynn 12-4 in Boca Raton’s 85-degree weather.
The bats were the name of the game as Molloy put on an offensive show. They scored eight unanswered runs until the sixth inning. Matt Yip grounded out while scoring Sean Welsh in the fourth inning. Aidan Larkin added an RBI single in the sixth that
turned into two runs after an error by Lynn pitcher Gil Colon. The scoring in the sixth didn’t stop as Yipp, Patrick Sanchez, Joe Burriesci, and Chris Giardino all had RBIs (Giardino with 2).
Larkin kept the scoring going for the Lions as he hit an RBI single in the seventh and eighth inning. Lynn’s four runs came through RBI singles, however it was not enough to top Molloy’s 12 runs.
Ryan Hynes received his second win of the season after striking out seven batters in five innings for the Lions. Lynn had eight different pitchers contribute to the Saturday loss with Matt Tiberia receiving the official loss. Tiberia only allowed one run on two hits while throwing six strikeouts in five innings.
Molloy will return to action on Sunday against Southern Connecticut State University at 2:30 pm.
Division III
Maritime vs. CCNY (doubleheader)
Game 1: Maritime 5 — CCNY 1 (7 innings)
In a 7-inning doubleheader, Maritime hosted CCNY on Saturday. Maritime defeated CCNY 5-1 in game one at Reinhart Field in Throggs Neck, NY.
In game one, CCNY got the early lead as Colin Souther hit an RBI single in the first. Maritime responded in the third with a Harry Leipold RBI double and a Freddy Forgione two-run homer. Maritime kept the home runs coming with Anthony Madigan hitting a solo shot in the fifth and Rob Coppozzi having one of his own in the sixth.
Matt Demme earned his second win of the season after pitching the entire seven-inning game. Demme struck out nine and allowed one run on just two hits.
Game 2: Maritime 8 — CCNY 2 (7 innings)
Game two started similarly with CCNY getting an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Maritime responded with a three-run third inning. Madigan hit an RBI single, Forgione hit an RBI double, and Matt Milone hit a sacrifice fly. Souther had an RBI double for CCNY to make it a one-run game in the sixth but Rob Copozzi, Logan Martinson, Ian Wilson, and Madigan answered with home runs for Maritime (Coppozzi had a two-run home run). It was a five-run inning with four home runs in the sixth for Maritime. They won 8-2.
Brandon Stanley improved his record to 2-1. He allowed one run on three hits and struck out four batters. Jack Kellner earned his second save on the season after pitching 1.1 innings to close the game for Maritime.
Maritime swept the day and improved to 3-2 on the season. CCNY remains without a win in 2024 with a 0-6 record. Maritime will be on the road at Baruch in New Rochelle in their Friday matchup at 4 pm.
SUNY Old Westbury vs. John Jay (doubleheader)
Game 1: SUNY Old Westbury 8 — John Jay 2 (7 innings)
SUNY Old Westbury hosted John Jay for a Saturday doubleheader. Coming into the series, SUNY Old Westbury had not won a game in the 2024 season. The Panthers changed that in game one after winning 8-2.
Game one started in SUNY Old Westbury’s favor as the Panthers got a 3-0 lead in a three-run third inning. Rob Manetta grounded out but scored Jaime Barrios, Nick Papageorge hit an RBI double, and Nick Petrucelly hit an RBI single. John Jay responded with two in the fourth with Michael Mauro scoring on a throwing error by Panthers’ Bradley Mateo and Isaac Salazar scoring Hayden Tackett on a single.
SUNY Old Westbury piled on the scoring from there with key hits by Mateo Martinez and Manetta. In the fourth, Martinez hit a two-run RBI double and Manetta had an RBI double of his own. In the sixth, Manetta impressed again by hitting a two-run RBI triple.
Frank Whitenack earned the win after striking out four and allowing two runs on three hits in 3.2 innings pitched. Kyle Gaertner got the save after closing the final three innings with three strikeouts and three hits.
Game 2: SUNY Old Westbury 0 — John Jay 3 (7 innings)
Game two was not as eventful. SUNY Old Westbury only had five hits in the game coming from Jacob Taormina, Barrios, Manetta (2), and Nick Giovanakis. In the first inning, Axel Kappes III scored from third during an attempt to throw the runner out at
second. John Spallin scored an unearned run on an error in the third. Quentin Bowman hit a solo home run in the fourth. John Jay won 3-0.
SUNY Old Westbury will have another doubleheader this Friday at home against Yeshiva University starting at 11 am.
Farmingdale State vs. Widener (doubleheader)
Game 1: Farmingdale State 7 — Widener 5 (7 innings)
Farmingdale State traveled to Auburndale, Fla. for a Saturday doubleheader against Widener. Farmingdale State is coming off their first win of the season after Friday’s victory over Penn State Abington.
The Rams got off to a strong start after obtaining a 5-0 lead in the first inning. With the bases loaded, Richie Heyder hit a grand slam for Farmingdale State. Daniel Deutsch followed by hitting an RBI single. Chris McGuggart added in the second with an RBI and hit an RBI single in the fifth. The Rams created a 7-1 lead cushion.
Widener looked to rally with some scoring of their own. In the seventh, Alex Savkov hit a two-run RBI double, and Nick Barenz and Christian Reed both hit RBI singles. However, the comeback wasn’t enough as Farmingdale State won game one 7-5.
Derek Watts received his first win of the season after striking out one batter and allowing two runs on five hits in four innings. Roman Dorosh earned the save after pitching 0.1 innings and allowing a hit.
Game 2: Farmingdale State 4 — Widener 6
Game two was a bit of a different story. This time around, Widener got the early start with a 3-0 lead in the first inning. A hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch accounted for 2 runs for Widener and a walk with the bases loaded gave them their third. However, the Rams responded in the bottom half of the inning.
Justin DiMartino, Sean Maldonado, and Elian Pimentel all hit RBI singles to tie the game 3-3. Good pitching by both sides stalled scoring until the fifth inning. Widener began to turn on the jets. Myles Calder hit an RBI single, followed by Mike Morrow scoring Savkov on a groundout. Calder then scored after Kevin Bukows advanced to
third base on a balk. Farmingdale State added one more run but it was not enough as they lost game two 6-4.
Five pitchers were on the mound for Farmingdale State in the seven-inning game. Jeromy Poveda received the loss after allowing three earned runs on two hits in 1.2 innings of work.
Farmingdale State will play another doubleheader in Florida on Monday against Oneonta starting at 3 pm.
