Photo Credit: Nakeem Grant<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe pitchers know who\u2019s playing behind them,\u201d said Molloy head coach Joe Fucarino. \u201cThat infield, that\u2019s probably one of the best infields I\u2019ve coached in the years that I\u2019ve been coaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Molloy scored their five runs in a variety of ways. They got RBI extra-base hits from Anthony Galanoudis, Christian Todd<\/strong>, and Angelo Navetta<\/strong>. They even played a little small ball, particularly when Brian Murphy<\/strong> executed the safety squeeze in the bottom of the eighth to push Molloy\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just don\u2019t take bp [batting practice],\u201d said coach Fucarino. \u201cWe work on all situational hitting. We work some contests in practice in groups to see who could drive the most runs in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jagiello pitched well for LIU. He had one rough inning where he allowed three runs in the bottom of the second. He would bounce back, however, putting up five consecutive scoreless innings before handing the ball to the bullpen in the eighth.<\/p>\n

Kenny Daley<\/strong> accounted for LIU\u2019s only run scored when he smacked a solo home run in the top of the seventh, his first of the season. In the end, LIU couldn\u2019t figure out how to string things together against Catinella\u2019s pitching.<\/p>\n

Game 2 featured a pitching duel between two of the better left-handed pitchers in the ECC: Bobby Kelly<\/strong> (Molloy) and Joey Arena<\/strong> (LIU Post).<\/p>\n

Kelly threw a complete game, one-hit shutout against a lineup that features four hitters batting well over .300. He worked at a quick pace and like his predecessor in Game 1, he forced countless routine grounders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about strikeouts,\u201d said coach Fucarino. \u201cIt\u2019s about pitching to contact, trusting your defense, and keeping your pitch count down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arena allowed only two earned runs in six innings. He pitched in and out of trouble several times during today\u2019s outing, keeping the game close for LIU.<\/p>\n

Molloy scratched out all three of their runs on plays where the ball hardly left the infield. Navetta scored on a wild pitch in the first and Deilyn Guzman<\/strong> set the table for his teammates in the fourth when he doubled into rightfield, putting runners on second and third with one out. Galanoudis and Guzman came in to score when Matt Bowers<\/strong> whiffed on a groundball.<\/p>\n

As a team, Molloy is currently batting .312 which is the best in the ECC. Coach Fucarino has enjoyed his team\u2019s all-around offensive performance to this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a coach, it\u2019s fun right now because the players are executing on the field what we\u2019re putting on in practice,\u201d said coach Fucarino. \u201cIt\u2019s honestly fun for me and it\u2019s making my job easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also expressed nothing but respect for LIU Post, a team that\u2019s ranked in the top ten of the East Region for Division II baseball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a good team over there. They\u2019re going to be right in the mix of things throughout the whole season. The ECC is week-to-week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Molloy and LIU will wrap up the four-game series on Monday in Brookville, NY.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nakeem Grant Conference play is in full swing in the East Coast Conference. Molloy\u00a0won both games (Game 1: 5-1, Game 2: 3-0) in today\u2019s doubleheader against their rivals, LIU Post. Both games were well-played and featured great pitching on both sides, but Molloy has been the better team so far in this series. In Game 1, Anthony Catinella (Molloy) pitched against Dan Jagiello (LIU) in what turned out to be an exciting head-to-head matchup. Catinella pitched eight innings, allowing one run and striking out eight batters with one walk, improving his record to 4-2. He induced a lot of groundballs during the game and his defense behind him scooped up everything that was hit their way. \u201cThe pitchers know who\u2019s playing behind them,\u201d said Molloy head coach Joe Fucarino. \u201cThat infield, that\u2019s probably one of the best infields I\u2019ve coached in the years that I\u2019ve been coaching.\u201d Molloy scored their five runs in a variety of ways. They got RBI extra-base hits from Anthony Galanoudis, Christian Todd, and Angelo Navetta. They even played a little small ball, particularly when Brian Murphy executed the safety squeeze in the bottom of the eighth to push Molloy\u2019s lead. \u201cWe just don\u2019t take bp [batting practice],\u201d said coach Fucarino. \u201cWe work on all situational hitting. We work some contests in practice in groups to see who could drive the most runs in.\u201d Jagiello pitched well for LIU. He had one rough inning where he allowed three runs in the bottom of the second. He would bounce back, however, putting up five consecutive scoreless innings before handing the ball to the bullpen in the eighth. Kenny Daley accounted for LIU\u2019s only run scored when he smacked a solo home run in the top of the seventh, his first of the season. In the end, LIU couldn\u2019t figure out how to string things together against Catinella\u2019s pitching. Game 2 featured a pitching duel between two of the better left-handed pitchers in the ECC: Bobby Kelly (Molloy) and Joey Arena (LIU Post). Kelly threw a complete game, one-hit shutout against a lineup that features four hitters batting well over .300. He worked at a quick pace and like his predecessor in Game 1, he forced countless routine grounders. \u201cIt\u2019s not about strikeouts,\u201d said coach Fucarino. \u201cIt\u2019s about pitching to contact, trusting your defense, and keeping your pitch count down.\u201d Arena allowed only two earned runs in six innings. He pitched in and out of trouble several times during today\u2019s outing, keeping the game close for LIU. Molloy scratched out all three of their runs on plays where the ball hardly left the infield. Navetta scored on a wild pitch in the first and Deilyn Guzman set the table for his teammates in the fourth when he doubled into rightfield, putting runners on second and third with one out. Galanoudis and Guzman came in to score when Matt Bowers whiffed on a groundball. As a team, Molloy is currently batting .312 which is the best in the ECC. Coach Fucarino has enjoyed his team\u2019s all-around offensive performance to this point. \u201cAs a coach, it\u2019s fun right now because the players are executing on the field what we\u2019re putting on in practice,\u201d said coach Fucarino. \u201cIt\u2019s honestly fun for me and it\u2019s making my job easy.\u201d He also expressed nothing but respect for LIU Post, a team that\u2019s ranked in the top ten of the East Region for Division II baseball. \u201cThat\u2019s a good team over there. They\u2019re going to be right in the mix of things throughout the whole season. The ECC is week-to-week.\u201d Molloy and LIU will wrap up the four-game series on Monday in Brookville, NY.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[460,349],"class_list":{"0":"post-6432","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-archive","8":"tag-archive","9":"tag-game-recap"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n