Trio of Pitchers Combine for 17 Scoreless Innings in Baseball Doubleheader Sweep of ECC Rival Molloy
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 24, 2012) – The trio of freshman Bryan Greig (New City, N.Y.), senior Chuck DeHart (Staten Island, N.Y.) and senior Tyler Savin (Wantagh, N.Y.) combined to pitch 17 scoreless innings as the Mercy College baseball team swept an East Coast Conference doubleheader against rival Molloy College on Saturday afternoon.
Mercy improves to 4-14 overall and 2-1 in the ECC with the victory, while Molloy drops to 7-14 (0-2).
Mercy 1, Molloy 0
Going head-to-head against the reigning ECC Pitcher of the Year in senior Chuck Fontana (Staten Island, N.Y.), Greig was nothing short of spectacular coming off his ECC Rookie of the Week honors last week. After allowing two hits early in the first inning, he got himself out of trouble and proceeded to take down several Lions batters over the next five innings, recording three straight three-and-out frames including striking out the side in the second.
The quick-working Fontana matched him almost pitch for pitch. A triple by sophomore Ken Post (Closter, N.J.) in the bottom of the first was the only time Mercy advanced past first base through the first six innings, but things started to get interesting in the seventh inning as both pitchers visibly wore down. Greig surrendered a pair of walks to open the top of the seventh and a groundout moved both runners into scoring position, but he coaxed a short fly out and soft grounder to get out of the inning unscathed. Fontana tossed another 1-2-3 frame and Greig came back out for the eighth.
Molloy picked up a leadoff single before Greig got a groundout that advanced the runner and punched the next batter out, but the rookie then hit a pair of batters to load the bases. It looked like his incredible performance was destined to be blemished, but Greig rose to the occasion, forcing a weak groundout to second amid roars of applause from the Mercy fans.
Fontana pitched one final inning as well, giving up a leadoff bunt single to junior centerfielder Nick Papas (Castleton, N.Y.), but Mercy could not get him around the bases and the Lions were back at the plate looking to nab the win. DeHart came on to relieve Greig and although he hit some trouble with a leadoff single and walk that led to men on second and third, he came away unscathed to give the Mavericks another chance in the bottom of the ninth. Three well-hit fly outs quickly set the Mavericks batters down again, though, and DeHart took to the mound again.
He gave up a single with one out but was saved by a double play to take Mercy into the bottom of the 10th, where Papas came up big once again with a two-out walk. He then stole second and freshman second baseman Vinny Orlando (East Meadow, N.Y.) stepped to the plate. He let a pitch go by but when he made contact, it was a sharp grounder to the first baseman that looked like a sure third out. However, the first baseman fumbled and booted it out of play as Papas was rounding third, and the junior came home as the winning run to an ecstatic Mercy dugout waiting for him at the plate.
Greig allowed just five hits and two walks while striking out nine batters over eight high-pressure innings, while DeHart picked up the win after allowing two hits and a walk in his two innings. Fontana gave up just three hits and a walk with four strikeouts over eight innings, and junior Angel Beltre (Providence, R.I.) was tagged with the loss for surrendering an unearned run on just one walk in 1 2/3 innings pitched.
Mercy 2, Molloy 0
The Mercy offense rode the momentum of the walk-off win in the first game to a two-run first inning in the second matchup. Junior right fielder Andrew Bock (Malverne, N.Y.) led off with a single and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, then scored on an error as Post reached second. He was promptly batted in on a single from Greig, serving as the designated hitter. That would be all the Mavericks needed as Savin shut down the Lions at the plate once again.
Savin came just one hit shy of throwing a complete-game, seven-inning no-hitter, giving up a single in the third inning in a dominant performance. He faced just one batter over the minimum as he picked up double plays to clear the bases after that hit in the third and a hit by pitch in the seventh, but an error allowed the penultimate batter to reach with two outs in the seventh.
Saving finished with five strikeouts over his seven innings, while sophomore Max Schonfeld (East Meadow, N.Y.) was tagged with his fourth loss of the year after allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out two over six innings.
Head Coach Bob Greiner and the Mavericks are scheduled to face Molloy again tomorrow, Sunday, March 25 at Hofstra University at 1:00 p.m.
