Mercy Baseball Keeps Playoff Hopes Alive With Win Over STAC
Mercy Baseball Keeps Playoff Hopes Alive With Win Over
STAC
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The Mercy College baseball team erased a 4-0 deficit to earn a
6-5 come-from-behind victory over East Coast Conference opponent
St. Thomas Aquinas College on Friday. The win gave the
Mavericks ten ECC victories this season and keeps their playoff
chances alive heading into the final weekend.
The Spartans scored twice in each of the first two innings to
take a 4-0 lead. With two outs in the bottom of the second,
Mercy rallied as senior Marc
Dern (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream North) and
sophomore Mike Gianzero (Highland Mills,
N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) both walked. The next batter, junior Graig Lauricella (North Massapequa,
N.Y./Plainedge) singled home Dern. Gianzero scored when Ken Mundy (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley
Stream North) drove him in with the first of his three hits in the
game. This brought Mercy within 4-2 after two innings.
STAC pushed another run across in the fourth to take a 5-2 lead,
but Mercy countered in the bottom of that inning, as three straight
singles by Dern, Gianzero and Lauricella produced a run.
The Mavericks fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the
sixth. In that inning, freshman Andrew
Bock (Malverne, N.Y./Valley Stream North) singled and
advanced to second when Gianzero walked. A double steal put
runners on second and third. Later in the inning, Mundy tied
the game at 5-5 with a double that scored both runners.
The score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the eighth,
when Gianzero was hit by a pitch. He advanced to second on a
Lauricella sacrifice bunt, and scored on an RBI single by senior Julio Torres (Harlingen,
Texas/Harlingen South), who had entered the game in the sixth
inning.
Junior reliever Steve Marsar (Seaford, N.Y./Holy
Trinity) got out of trouble in the eighth and pitched a scoreless
ninth to record the win.
For the Mavericks, senior Matt
Mareno (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) got the start and
pitched the first four innings. A trio of relievers shut the
door on the Spartans as Chris Mignoli (Floral Park,
N.Y./Archbishop Molloy), Walter Kowalczyk
(Valhalla, N.Y./Briarcliff) and Marsar threw a combined five
shutout innings.
In order for the Mavericks to reach the East Coast Conference
championships, Mercy needs to win the three remaining games against
STAC, and have Bridgeport beat Queens College at least once.
STAC and Mercy face each other again in a doubleheader on
Saturday, May 1. The start time for game one is scheduled for
11 a.m. at Rockland Community College. Meanwhile, Bridgeport hosts
Queens on Saturday for a doubleheader, beginning at noon.
