By Mike Merolle
Happy Easter! Before the holiday, let’s get caught up on a flurry of action-packed games that occurred.
Division-I
Hofstra 5 — Towson 1
After coming off a loss in the first game of the series against Towson, Hofstra prevailed on Saturday. Carlos Martinez had his most strikeouts in a game in his collegiate career with nine in seven innings.
Hofstra got an early 1-0 lead after Steve Harrington drove in a run. Will Kennedy had a 3 RBI day including one in the third inning to make it 2-0 Pride. Towson got their only run of the game off of a home run by Elijah Dickerson. Kennedy and Santino Rosso drove in more runs to make it 5-1.
Martinez’s strong performance in his 85-pitch outing helped Hofstra secure the win. Mike McKenna closed the game’s final two innings and earned his fourth save of the season.
Hofstra will look to take the series win on Sunday against Towson at 1 pm. Fordham 6 — Dayton 12
It was a tough day for Fordham as they allowed 16 hits and 12 runs in a loss to Dayton.
Fordham got the scoring going in the second after Steve Luttazi hit a solo home run to make it 1-0. Dayton responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Daniel Bucciero tied the game for Fordham after launching a solo shot.
The sixth inning changed the outlook for the rest of the game. Dayton scored six runs to make it 8-2. The Rams cut the lead to three highlighted by Nico Boza’s RBI single to make it 9-6. Dayton scored three more to make the final score 12-6.
Fordham’s Koen Smith took his second loss of the season after giving up eight runs on 10 hits in four innings. The Rams will look for redemption against Dayton on Sunday at noon.
LIU — Sacred Heart (doubleheader)
Game 1: LIU 6 – Sacred Heart 4
LIU’s JC Navarro got the Saturday doubleheader started with a three-run homer in the first inning to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead. Noah Sorensen followed him with a two-run home run to make it 5-0. LIU won game one 6-4.
Dominic Pieto was a dominant force on the mound after striking out nine in seven innings. Jack VanDoran got the save after striking out two in the last two innings of the game.
Game 2: LIU 4 — Sacred Heart 5
Game two started with another surprising play by the Sharks. Jake Mastillo stole home to make it 1-0. Navarro made another difference in the doubleheader. He drove in a run on a single to tie the game in the ninth.
After going into extras, Sacred Heart won the game 5-4 in the 10th. LIU is back in action on Tuesday against Iona at 3 pm.
St. John’s — Winthrop
Game 1: St. John’s 18 — Winthrop 4
The Johnnies extended their undefeated home streak to 14 games after game one of their doubleheader against Winthrop.
Their offensive power came from the usual suspects. Anthony Brienza had a 3-for-4 game with five RBIs and three runs. Ben Beauchamp had three hits and three runs. Ten
different Johnnies had RBIs in the offensive slaughtering. The fifth inning held nine St. John’s runs.
Mario Pesca was near perfect. Pesca pitched six scoreless innings until surrendering his first hit of the day in the seventh. He struck out five in 92 pitches and picked up his fourth win of the season.
Game 2: St. John’s 6 — Winthrop 6
Game two ended in a 6-6 tie to make St. John’s home record 14-0-1.
Winthrop got the early scoring to make it 4-0. The Red Storm got within one thanks to Jackson Tucker’s double and Blake Mayberry’s sacrifice fly to make it 4-1 Winthrop. The Eagles hit a two-run homer to extend their lead 6-1. Tucker hit a two-run RBI single to make it 6-3. Luke Orbon scored on a sacrifice fly, and Brienza hit a two-run RBI triple to finish the game 6-6.
St. John’s next context is at home against Fairfield at 3 pm.
Stony Brook 8 — Charleston 17
Johnny Pilla opened the Seawolves scoring in the bottom of the first with an RBI double. Charleston responded with seven runs to make it a 7-1 deficit for Stony Brook. After scoring three runs to cut the deficit, Stony Brook allowed six runs. Stony Brook didn’t go down quietly after scoring a few runs highlighted by Matt Brown-Eiring’s two-run homer. Stony Brook lost 17-8.
Nick Rizzo started on the mound for Stony Brook and let up six runs on five hits in 2.1 innings pitched. Ty Saunders and Colton Book didn’t have the strongest of days as they gave up multiple runs as well.
The Seawolves will look to take a game against Charleston this series on Sunday at 12 pm.
Division-II
Queens — Mercy (doubleheader)
Game 1: Queens 16 — Mercy 15
After Mercy made it a 4-0 lead, Queens got to work. Three RBI singles by Robert Jacobsen, Jorsixt Jimenez, Francis Segarra, and runs off of walks got the Knights 7-4 lead.
The scoring went back and forth until Jimenez hit an RBI double in the sixth to make it 16-10 Queens. Mercy scored five runs in the seventh and eighth but it was not enough.
Game 2: Queens 10 — Mercy 4
Jimenez and Joey Patane got Queens an early 2-0 lead. Mercy’s Zac Ashline responded with a solo shot but after that, it was all Queens.
The Knights scored six runs in the second and third innings highlighted by Jimenez’s two-run RBI single and Matt Filip‘s three-run homer. Mercy tallied a few runs but not enough to cap the win. Queens won 10-4.
The Knights will play Caldwell on Tuesday at 3 pm.
Adelphi — American International College (doubleheader)
Game 1: Adelphi 3 — AIC 15
Adelphi had a rough start to their doubleheader against AIC. AIC had a five-run second inning.
The Panthers didn’t go down quietly as Joe Pellegrino hit an RBI double among other Panther-driven runs to cut the deficit to 5-3. The fourth was uglier than the second as AIC made the game 10-4. Adelphi’s Carlos Acosta received his first loss of the season as Adelphi fell to AIC 15-4.
Game 2: Adelphi 7 — AIC 5
AIC was leading 4-2 until Michael Robinson hit a two-RBI double to tie the game. Alex Rende added an RBI single and ended up leading 6-4.
Gavin Graff pitched 3.1 shutout relief innings until Coleton Reitan took over the final three batters to earn his third save of the season.
Adelphi will head on the road on Wednesday against St. Thomas Aquinas at 3:30 pm. Division-III
Maritime — St. Joseph’s Brooklyn
Game 1: Maritime 5 — St. Joseph’s 0
Matt Demme improved his record to 5-0 after pitching a complete game in game one against St. Joseph’s. In the second, four walks loaded the bases for Maritime, and Ian Wilson walked for a run. Anthony Madigan hit a grand slam to make it 5-0.
Demme held St. Joseph’s to six singles and zero walks. The win was Demme’s 18th career win, making him Maritime’s all-time leader in wins.
Game 2: Maritime 7 — St. Joseph’s 0
Game two started as a pitcher’s duel. Both pitchers were impressive through six innings. In the bottom of the seventh, Maritime scored seven runs.
The runs were highlighted by Madigan’s and Freddy Forgione’s two-run singles.
Brandon Stanley struck out five and allowed zero walks for his fifth win of the season. Maritime will head on the road on Monday to face Eastern Connecticut at 5 pm
