Rookies Lasalandra and Orlando Spark Offense as Baseball Drops ECC Doubleheader at Dowling
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Box Score 2 OAKDALE, N.Y. (April 14, 2012) – Freshman left fielder Giovanni Lasalandra (Warwick, N.Y.) and reigning conference Rookie of the Week second baseman Vinny Orlando (East Meadow, N.Y.) each tripled to spark the Mercy College baseball offense in an East Coast Conference doubleheader against Dowling College on Saturday afternoon but the Mavericks could not pull out the win in either game, falling by scores of 3-2 and 9-5.
Dowling improves to 21-13 overall and 10-4 in the ECC while Mercy slips to 6-25 (4-10).
Lasalandra ended the day 1-6 with a walk, two runs and an RBI while Orlando finished 2-6 with a pair of walks, one run and an RBI.
Mercy 2, Dowling 3
Mercy had three base runners to start things off but the first run did not cross until the bottom of the second inning, when sophomore designated hitter Matt Benedetto (Wantagh, N.Y.) scored after a leadoff single to give Dowling the 1-0 edge.
The Mavericks took the lead in the fifth inning when Lasalandra tripled a run in and scored on a wild pitch two outs later, making the score 2-1.
A Benedetto sacrifice fly tied things back up in the sixth inning and the game headed into extras, where sophomore second baseman Andrew Abreu (Lake Grove, N.Y.) led off with a triple and scored the game-winner on a single by junior right fielder Joe Candela (East Quoge, N.Y.).
Freshman Bryan Greig (New City, N.Y.) allowed two earned runs on five hits, two walks and two hit-by-pitches while striking out two over five innings and senior Chuck DeHart (Staten Island, N.Y.) was tagged with the loss in his second inning of work.
Sophomore Tyler Badamo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) went seven innings in the start for Dowling, giving up two earned runs on four hits and three walks while striking out seven. Sophomore Tom Bammann (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) picked up the win after allowing walking one and whiffing one in an inning.
Mercy 5, Dowling 9
Benedetto kicked off the scoring again in the second game, singling in the Golden Lions' first run in the bottom of the first inning. Three more Dowling runs scored in the next inning, but Mercy finally got on the board in the third as sophomore shortstop Jeremy Lovera (Carmel, N.Y.) led off with a walk and was brought home by Orlando on a two-out single.
Dowling tacked another five runs on in the bottom of the frame to stretch the lead to 9-1, but Mercy still had some fight left and staged a rally in the top of the sixth. Orlando led off with a triple and was singled in by sophomore third baseman Ken Post (Closter, N.J.) and sophomore first baseman Jesus Jaile (Hartsdale, N.Y.) singled another run across shortly after. Lasalandra grounded into a fielder's choice that allowed another run to score and junior right fielder Andrew Bock (Malverne, N.Y.) smacked another RBI single to left field, but the inning ended as Lovera was gunned down at home.
Junior centerfielder Nick Papas (Castleton, N.Y.) led the Mavericks at the plate, going 2-3 with one run. Senior Tyler Savin (Wantagh, N.Y.) took the loss while sophomore Adam Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) surrendered just one walk while striking out two in two innings and junior Ray Thaisz (Staten Island, N.Y.) gave up a hit in one scoreless inning.
Benedetto finished the second game 3-4 with a run and RBI, while sophomore centerfielder Rob Veltre (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) was 2-3 with two runs and two RBI, Abreu went 2-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI and sophomore third baseman Ian Schneider (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) was 0-1 with a walk and two runs scored for Dowling. Senior Ryan Mikalsen (Farmingville, N.Y.) earned the win after allowing five runs (two earned) on 10 hits, one walk and a hit-by-pitch over six innings pitched.
Head Coach Bob Greiner and the Mavericks will host Dowling tomorrow, Sunday, April 15 at 1:00 p.m.
