Solid Hitting Undone by Untimely Errors as Baseball Falls to ECC Rival Molloy
Box Score UNIONDALE, N.Y. (April 18, 2012) – Freshman designated hitter and leading Rookie of the Year candidate Bryan Greig (New City, N.Y.) led the team with three hits and junior centerfielder Nick Papas (Castleton, N.Y.) came up clutch with a two-RBI single in the fifth inning to tie the game but the Mercy College baseball team ended up on the losing end of an 8-5 East Coast Conference matchup with Molloy College on Wednesday afternoon.
Molloy improves to 17-19 overall and 7-7 in the ECC while Mercy slips to 6-27 (4-12).
Mercy got on the board in the first inning as Greg smashed a single up the middle that the centerfielder misplayed, allowing freshman second baseman Vinny Orlando (East Meadow, N.Y.) to score and Greg to advance to third base.
Molloy responded immediately, loading the bases with two outs and scoring three runs in the bottom of the frame thanks to an error. The Lions tacked on another two runs in the third inning after a pair of leadoff walks and a sacrifice bunt put men on second and third for senior shortstop Frank Marchisello (Staten Island, N.Y.) to single in to take the 5-1 lead.
The Mavericks bounced back in the fifth inning when freshman first baseman Chris Salvo (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) drew a two-out bases-loaded walk to push one across. They tied things up in the next inning as an Orlando ground-rule double put men on second and third with one out and sophomore third baseman Ken Post (Closter, N.J.) walked to load the bases again. Greg singled one run in and junior centerfielder Papas smacked another single off the reliever to score two more to tie the game at 5-5.
Unfortunately for Mercy, Molloy broke the deadlock in the bottom of the sixth after two outs had already been made. An error extended the inning and resulted in three runs crossing the plate to give the Lions an 8-5 lead, which ended up being the final scoreline.
Greig was 3-6 with one RBI on the day while Papas finished 1-3 with a walk, two RBI and a stolen base. Orlando went 1-5 with a walk and two runs scored, Post was 1-4 with two walks and two runs, Salvo went 1-3 with two walks and an RBI and sophomore catcher John Casten (Walden, N.Y.) ended up 0-1 with two walks and a run. Senior Billy Dring (Mahopac, N.Y.) gave up the Mavericks' only two earned runs and five total on four hits and five walks over three innings in the start. Junior Tom Cummings was tagged with the loss after allowing three unearned innings on four hits and two hit batters while striking out a pair over three innings.
Redshirt freshman second baseman John Galanoudis (Farmingdale, N.Y.) led the Lions with two hits in four at-bats, walking once, scoring one run and stealing a base. Freshman designated hitter Dino Tomasetti (Hewlett, N.Y.) went 1-2 with three walks and two runs and junior catcher Ray McCourt (River Edge, N.J.) went 1-3 with two walks, two runs and an RBI. Senior Jason Lembo (East Meadow, N.Y.) surrendered two runs (one earned) on three hits, a hit-by-pitch and seven walks while striking out four in five innings and junior Patrick Brown (Howard Beach, N.Y.) picked up the win, giving up three hits and three hit-by-pitches while punching out four over 2 2/3 innings.
Head Coach Bob Greiner and the Mavericks will host Queens College (8-21, 4-12) in an ECC doubleheader on Saturday, April 21 at 1:30 p.m. and 12:00 p.m. Please note that this reflects a time change from the previous schedule and continue to check www.mercyathletics.com for future schedule changes.
