Baseball Unable to Hold Lead in Second Game, Drops ECC Doubleheader at STAC
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 POMONA, N.Y. (April 28 , 2012) – The Mercy College baseball team took a late lead in the second game of a doubleheader with East Coast Conference opponent St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday afternoon but was unable to hold it, falling in both by scores of 11-0 and 6-4.
STAC improves to 29-15 overall and 14-5 in the ECC while Mercy drops to 6-34 (4-18).
Mercy 0, STAC 11
The Maverick were unable to get any offense going in the first game as freshman designated hitter Bryan Greig (New City, N.Y.) picked up the team's only hit, with three others drawing a walk each and another three reaching base on hit-by-pitches.
Sophomore Brian McNamara (Brewster, N.Y.) was saddled with the loss but freshman Brian Solomon (Newburgh, N.Y.) provided something positive in relief, tossing two scoreless innings of one-hit ball and striking out one batter.
Several Spartans impressed at the plate as senior first baseman George Wargo (West Haverstraw, N.Y.) went 2-3 with a triple, one run scored, one RBI and a stolen base, freshman third baseman Stanley Susana (Bronx, N.Y.) was 2-4 with a run and four RBI including a three-run homer and junior catcher Mike Russo (Boca Raton, Fla.) finished 2-3 with a triple, walk, two runs and an RBI. Junior shortstop Frank Salerno (New City, N.Y.) went 1-3 with a triple, two runs and three RBI while junior second baseman Efrain Bautista (Bronx, N.Y.) was a perfect 2-2 with a stolen base.
Senior Matt Marotta (Suffern, N.Y.) picked up the win, allowing just one hits and two walks while striking out three over five scoreless innings. Junior Jon Scott (Old Tappan, N.J.) and junior Daniel Diaz (Nanuet, N.Y.) each pitched a hitless frame with one strikeout to seal the victory.
Mercy 4, STAC 6
The second game was much more tightly contested, with Mercy nearly taking the lead in the top of the first inning on a pair of leadoff singles, but a double play killed the momentum and STAC instead took the lead in the bottom of the frame, scoring once on an error.
The Spartans added another run in the bottom of the second as freshman left fielder Derek Hirsch (Roslyn, N.Y.) drew a two-out walk, stole second, advanced to third on a single and finally scored on an error to make it 2-0 STAC. The Mavericks got on the board in the top of the fourth though as sophomore shortstop Jeremy Lovera (Carmel, N.Y.) and sophomore third baseman Ken Post (Closter, N.J.) led off with a pair of singles and pulled off a double steal of second and third base. Freshman first baseman Joseph Gismondi (East Meadow, N.Y.) then singled Lovera home to cut the deficit to one.
Mercy carried the momentum into the fifth inning, where it finally enjoyed a big inning to take the 4-2 lead. Sophomore left fielder Michael Dern (Roslyn, N.Y.) led off the frame with a single and advanced to third on a botched pickoff attempt and was joined on the basepaths as freshman catcher Sal Palumbo (Medford, N.Y.) reached safely on an error by the catcher after striking out. Junior right fielder Andrew Bock (Malverne, N.Y.) slapped an RBI single to left field to score Dern and Post brought Palumbo home later, with freshman second baseman Vinny Orlando (East Meadow, N.Y.) capping the three-run inning with a two-out groundout RBI.
Mercy's lead was short-lived, however, as STAC tied things back up in the bottom of the fifth. Salerno scored first with a steal of home plate and an RBI single from Russo leveled the game at 4-4. STAC then took the lead in the next inning as senior first baseman Andrew Hancsak (Lake Worth, Fla.) homered to lead off and Salerno pushed an insurance run across on an RBI triple to make the score 6-4, which it remained at to the end.
Post led the Mavericks at the plate, going 2-3 with a walk, RBI and stolen base while Bock was 2-4 with a run and RBI, Dern was 2-3 with a run and Lovera finished 2-4 with a run and two stolen bases. Senior Tyler Savin (Wantagh, N.Y.) took the loss, with senior Chuck DeHart (Staten Island, N.Y.) getting the final two outs with no trouble whatsoever.
Salerno led the Spartans at the dish with a 2-4 performance that included a triple, one run, one RBI and a stolen base while Russo went 2-3 with an RBI as the designated hitter and junior second baseman Andrew Romanella (Allentown, N.J.) was 2-3 with a run and stolen base. Freshman Nick May (Middletown, N.Y.) did not factor into the decision after allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out six over four innings, while sophomore Eric Cooper (Brooklyn, N.Y.) earned the win, surrendering two runs (none earned) on three hits and three walks while whiffing a pair over three innings.
Head Coach Bob Greiner and the Mavericks will look to bounce back as they host STAC tomorrow, Sunday, April 29 at 1:00 p.m.
