Mercy Baseball Takes Season Series from Dowling with an 8-7 Win
Mercy Baseball Takes Season Series from Dowling with an
8-7 Win
Linescore
The Mercy College baseball team took the season series from
Dowling College with a dramatic 8-7 win in walk-off fashion.
The Mavericks faced a four run deficit, and trailed by three runs
at two separate points in the game, but rallied twice to pull out
the victory.
Junior Matt Walsh (Staten Island, NY/St.
Peter's Boys) got the start for the Mavericks, but struggled
early, as the Golden Lions touched him for two runs in the first
and two more in the fourth. Mercy picked up a lone run in the
bottom of the first when senior Julio
Torres (Harlingen, TX/Harlingen South) ripped an
RBI single that scored Graig Lauricella (North Massapequa,
NY/Plainedge). Dowling took a 4-1 lead after plating two more
runners in the second and the score remained there until the bottom
of the third. 
In the bottom of the third, the Mavericks chipped away at the
lead as Torres doubled and came around to score on a single off the
bat of Justin Muscarella (Plainedge,
NY/Island Trees). This brought Mercy within 4-2. The
Mavericks added another run in the next frame as Marc
Dern (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream North) scored on
a fielding error. The score was leveled in the bottom of the
fifth, where a walk to Lauricella and a single courtesy of Michael Grassano (Valley Stream,
NY/Valley Stream South) put runners on the corners for Torres, who
sent a run home by reaching on an error.
Dowling roared back in the eighth to push three runs across and
take a 7-4 lead. Once again, with all the ebb and flow of a
championship prizefight, Mercy fought back. With only six
outs left for the team, Vinny Tesoriero (Glen Head, NY/North
Shore) led off with a single and reached second on an error.
Dern drove him in with a single down the left-field line.
Later in the inning, with one out and runners on second and third,
Michael Ferrante (Long Beach, NY/Long
Beach) advanced both runners with an RBI groundout that pulled the
Mavericks within 7-6. Mike Gianzero (Highland Mills,
NY/Monroe-Woodbury) scored the tying run on a wild pitch.
With the score tied at 7-7, the game entered the bottom of the
ninth. Muscarella laced a one-out single to right field,
advancing to second on a fielding error by the shortstop.
With runners on first and second, Dern culminated his three hit
performance with a single that scored Muscarella with the
game-winning run on a close play at the plate.
In the 8-7 Mavericks win, freshman Tom
Cummings (Coatesville, PA/Bishop Shanahan) pitched 2.2
innings of relief and surrendered just one run. Closer Bill Dring (Mahopac, NY/Lakeland)
entered in the eighth and picked up the win. Dern led the
offensive onslaught with three hits and two RBI. Torres,
Muscarella and Gianzero all chipped in with two hits apiece.
With the win, Mercy's record now stands at 8-12, 4-5 ECC,
while Dowling's ledger stands at 12-13, 7-7 ECC. The
Mavericks baseball team returns to action on Tuesday, April 6 as
they travel to Long Island to face Molloy College in an East Coast
Conference Game. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Mercy is at home again on Thursday, hosting Molloy at 3:30 p.m.
