By Mike Merolle
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Yesterday was a very busy day for the local college programs – here’s how it went down:
Division I:
St. John’s 10 — Rider 9
JOHNNIES HANG ON! Three runs in the ninth but a dart from Tucker to Keenan denies the final run from scoring and gives the Red Storm its ninth straight win! pic.twitter.com/hJPXu8DTM6
— St. John’s Baseball (@StJohnsBaseball) March 16, 2024
The Red Storm stay hot as their 10-9 win against Rider extends their winning streak to nine games. Their win on Saturday gives them a 2-0 lead in their three-game series.
The game was tied 2-2 at one point in the third inning but St. John’s went on an offensive surge. Ben Beauchamp and Paul Orbon provided homers in the fifth. Seven of the nine batters in the lineup had RBIs. Orbon led with three, and Blake Mayberry and Max Aude had two.
The game became dramatic in the ninth. It was a 10-7 St. John’s lead until Rider scored two runs. Erich Hartmann hit an RBI single to right center and Kyle Neri hit an RBI single up the middle. The score was suddenly 10-9 with one out until St. John’s defense came to the rescue. On Neri’s RBI single, St. John’s center fielder, Jackson Tucker, threw a laser to catcher Jimmy Keenan who tagged the tying runner out. Rider hit a line out to short to end the game.
Evan Chafee got his first win of the season for the Red Storm after striking out five and allowing two runs on three hits in five innings pitched and 84 pitches thrown.
St. John’s will look to extend the win streak to 10 games on Sunday against Rider at 1 pm.
Stony Brook 3 — Seton Hall 2
MID 9 | 🐺 3, 🏴☠️ 2
Solorzano grabs the lead! A two-out single through the right side gives Stony Brook its first lead today!
🌊🐺 x #NCAABaseball pic.twitter.com/rxUY967tIV
— Stony Brook Baseball (@StonyBrookBASE) March 16, 2024
Stony Brook had ninth-inning dramatics in their 3-2 victory over Seton Hall. Nicholas Solorzano hit a game-winning RBI single for the Seawolves in New Jersey on Saturday. Stony Brook is above .500 for the first time in 2024 with a 9-8 record.
Seton Hall got the scoring going in the first. Aiden Robbins hit an RBI triple and Danny Melnick had an RBI single. That was all the scoring the Pirates had.
Strong pitching and missed opportunities on the bases kept the score 2-0 until the sixth inning. Evan Fox hit a 2 RBI single to tie the game. Solorzano’s heroics in the ninth secured the victory for Stony Brook.
Nicholas Rizzo started the game for the Seawolves allowing two runs on four hits with one strikeout in five innings. Ty Saunders received his first win of the season after pitching four scoreless innings with four strikeouts and two hits allowed.
Stony Brook is back in action and will look to sweep the series against Seton Hall on Sunday at noon.
Hofstra 6 — Manhattan 17
After winning the first game of the series, Hofstra lost game two of three in their series against Manhattan 17-6. Manhattan had a 13-run fifth inning that put the nail in the coffin early.
Hofstra scored early in the first when Luke Masiuk hit an RBI double. Manhattan’s Vincent Davis hit a 2-run homer to give the Jaspers the lead in the fourth. Then the fifth inning happened. Several blunders and errors scored runs for Manhattan such as bases-loaded walks and hit by pitches. Besides the many walked runs, Josiah Brown hit a three-run homer run, and Dylan Mayer hit a three-run RBI double. Hofstra’s Dylan Palmer hit his first career collegiate home run but the damage had been done and Manhattan won drastically.
Steven Kaenzig received his fourth loss of the season on the mound for Hofstra. Kaenzig allowed four runs on six hits in four innings pitched. Manhattan’s Michael Staiano is 2-0 on the season now after striking out two and allowing four runs on six hits.
Hofstra will look to win the series at home against Manhattan on Sunday at 1 pm. Fordham 8 — Fairfield 10
Fordham’s three-game win streak came to an end on Saturday after losing to Fairfield 10-8. It was a historic day for the Fairfield baseball history books as Ethan Hibbard tied the Fairfield single-game home run record with three homers in their Saturday win.
Fairfield had the offense rolling early thanks to one of Hibbard’s home runs and Ryan Strollo’s two-run double making it 4-0. Fordham answered with four runs of their own thanks to an RBI double by Daniel Bucciero and three batters scoring on loaded bases. Hibbard hit another two-run home run in the third and Bucciero responded with a solo shot for the Rams to make it 7-4 Fairfield. Hibbard hit his third home run of the game in the sixth extending Fairfield’s lead to 9-4.
Fordham’s Cian Sahler hit an RBI single in the eighth and TJ Wachter hit an RBI double in the ninth but it was not enough.
Koen Smith received his first loss of the year after allowing seven runs on eight hits and striking out four in three innings. Fairfield’s Colin McVeigh was the winning pitcher who struck out six in 5.2 innings pitched.
Fordham will aim to get back to their winning ways on Sunday against Army West Point at 11:30 am.
LIU 11 — Central Connecticut State 7
LIU picked up their fourth win of the season on Saturday after defeating Central Connecticut State 11-7. LIU had an offensive showing with three different players hitting home runs.
The first five batters of LIU’s lineup, Seth Surrett, Noah Sorensen, JC Navarro, Jake Mastillo, and Connor Price, had a 2 RBI day. The three home runs came from Navarro, Mastillo, and Price. LIU’s offense outpowered CCS’s seven runs gaining them the victory.
Dominic Pieto received the win after striking out eight and allowing three runs on nine hits in seven innings pitched.
LIU is back at it on Sunday and will look to win the series against CCS at 1 pm. Division II
Adelphi 8 — Pace 4
Adelphi tied up their series against Pace on Saturday with an 8-4 victory. Adelphi hosted the match at William J. Bonomo Memorial Field in Garden City and, for the second time this season, they came back from behind at home.
Pace took an early 3-0 lead with a three-run second inning highlighted by Josh Miller’s RBI double. From the third inning on, Adelphi’s offense showed up. Jose Matos had an RBI double in the fourth which attributed to his 3-for-4 day. He gave Adelphi a tying runner in scoring position in the seventh inning with a lead-off double. Anthony Rigogliosi hit a game-tying RBI single to score Matos.
Adelphi’s Jacob Dannenberg was awarded the win after allowing one run on one hit in 1.1 innings pitched. Gavin Graff got the save after striking out two batters to close the game.
Adelphi will close the series against Pace tomorrow away in Pleasantville, NY at noon. Queens — Assumption University (doubleheader)
Game 1: Queens 4 —Assumption 11
Queens opened a four-game non-conference series against Assumption starting with Saturday’s doubleheader. Game one was an offensive showing for both sides as they combined for 25 hits.
Queens was led by Jorsixt Jimenez who had an RBI and two runs, Joey Patane going 3-5 with a run, and Phillip Krpata with two hits and an RBI. Besides these runs scored for Queens, it was all Assumption.
Assumption’s Owen Podolec, Christopher Rabias, and Matthew Holbrook had doubles in game one. Holbrook also attributed to a home run.
Queens’ Caleb Cassie received the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings pitched.
Game 2: Queens 3 — Assumption 2
Game two was less offensive than game one but this time Queens pulled away with the win 3-2.
Holbrook and Jack Barry hit RBI singles for Assumption to give them a 2-0 lead. Queens tied the game in the sixth thanks to two errors. A throwing error by Assumption’s first baseman allowed one run and a fielding error by their third baseman allowed the other. Leo Alvarez hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth to secure the win for the Knights.
Danny Gargano was the winning pitcher after allowing zero runs on three hits and striking out four in three innings.
The two teams will face off again on Sunday in another doubleheader starting at noon. Molloy — Dominican (doubleheader)
Game 1: Molloy 14 — Dominican 4
Molloy has impressed the nation in Division II baseball and they did so on Saturday. In game one, the Lions defeated Dominican 14-4.
Molloy took an early 2-0 lead after JJ DeVito scored on a wild pitch and Matt Yip hit an RBI single. Dominican scored one in the second but Molloy’s Joe Burriesci hit a sacrifice fly to make it a two-run game again. In the fifth, DeVito scored a runner on a ground out and Burriesci hit an RBI single. At the bottom of the eighth, Molloy scored four runs. Patrick Sanchez had an RBI single, Nicholas Dagnello walked with the bases loaded, and Jack Coogan hit a two-run RBI single to make it 14-3.
Charlie Cucchiara received the win after allowing three runs on six hits and striking out three in seven innings pitched.
Game 2: Molloy 3 — Dominican 1
Game two was more tame as Molloy took a 3-1 victory. In the second inning, Sanchez scored on an error and Dagnello scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 Molloy. In the fourth, Burriesci hit an RBI single to make it 3-0. Dominican’s Tyler Richman hit an RBI single in the seventh to add a run on the board but it was not enough to come out on top.
Ryan Hynes pitched the entire game (seven innings) and struck out six batters allowing one run on seven hits.
Molloy will aim for the sweep in their series versus Dominican on Sunday at 1 pm. Division III
St. Joseph’s LI 5 — SUNY Fredonia 1
In a match at the Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, SC, St. Joseph’s Long Island defeated SUNY Fredonia 5-1.
Fredonia got the first run of the game in the second thanks to a Domenic Hickok RBI single. St. Joseph’s LI answered back in their half of the inning with two walks on loaded bases making it 2-1. In the third, Dom Crema scored on a wild pitch and Marco Gullo hit an RBI double. John Lynch capped the game’s scoring in the sixth with an RBI double.
Riley Morris got his first win of the season after striking out five batters and allowing one run on four hits in five innings pitched.
St. Joseph’s LI is back to action on Tuesday when they face Kean at 3 pm. Maritime 12 — Centenary 9
Maritime got their sixth win of the season on Saturday after defeating Centenary 12-9.
Maritime got to work early as they held a 9-0 lead in the fourth inning. Logan Martinson, Alex Bardi, and Anthony Madigan had RBI doubles. Matt Milone and Rob Copozzi each had two-run home runs. Maigan and Milone led Maritime with three RBIs. They each added runs in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 12-2.
Centenary had a late rally with a six-run ninth inning. Despite the late-game dramatics, it was not enough to secure the victory.
Brandon Stanley received his third win of the season after allowing three runs on six hits with one strikeout in eight innings pitched.
Maritime’s next game will be in Davenport, FL when they face Williams on Thursday at 2:30 pm.
USMMA 3 — Haverford 8
USMMA dropped their record to 3-7 after losing to Haverford 9-3 on Saturday.
Haverford got a 3-0 lead in a three-run third inning. These runs were scored due to a few errors and an RBI single. USMMA added two runs between the fourth and fifth inning when Tyler Reistetter scored on a wild pitch and reached on a fielder’s choice to score a run. Haverford kept the scoring going as they added five runs to get their ninth win of the season.
Preston Plank was the losing pitcher. He had two strikeouts and allowed three runs on three hits in four innings pitched.
USMMA will return to action on Wednesday to face FDU-Florham at 3:30 pm.
