Slattery Walk-Off and Patterson Home Run Lead Baseball to Series-Opening Sweep of Molloy
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 24, 2015) – Freshman Liam Slattery (Floral Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 14th inning of game one, junior James Patterson (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) hit a two-run home run in the nightcap and junior Scott Hagan (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Binghamton) recorded four hits and two RBI on the day, as the Mercy College baseball team earned a doubleheader sweep of Molloy College with 4-3 and 5-3 wins on Friday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (11-24, 5-13 ECC) reach double-digit wins on the season with the sweep and officially eliminate the Lions (19-19, 7-11 ECC) from ECC playoff contention.
Game 1: Mercy 4, Molloy 3
The first extra-inning affair of the season for the Mavericks unfolded in game one with the two teams combining to leave 27 runners on base in 14 innings.
Both teams received strong outings for the starters with Mercy sophomore pitcher Matt Nalbone (Islip, N.Y./Islip) going nine innings with two earned runs allowed on 141 pitches. Molloy starter Shea Spitzbarth put forth a ten-inning outing with no earned runs allowed on three hits while striking out an impressive 17 batters on 143 pitches.
The Lions jumped on the board first with a run in the second on a double steal to take a 1-0 lead. The Mavericks evened things up in the bottom of the third as they attempted a double steal with two outs with senior Blake Hasbrouck (Middletown, N.Y./Orange CC) scoring the tying run before the runner at first was caught in a rundown to end the inning.
Molloy regained the lead in the fifth on an RBI single through the right side from Angelo Navetta to make it 2-1 after four and a half innings of play. Nalbone continued to settle in and tossed three scoreless innings in a row before the Mavericks found the equalizer in the eighth as junior Justin Echevarria (Bronx, N.Y./Orange CC) came around to score from second on a fielding error by the second baseman to knot the score up at 2-2.
Both teams would get a runner on base in the ninth but neither could get a run across, sending the game into extra innings.
After a scoreless tenth, the Lions retook the lead in the 11th as Anthony Alberghina singled to left to score Jack McCarty and build a 3-2 lead. Mercy had an answer in the bottom half of the inning as senior Sal Palumbo (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) came through with a clutch RBI single to left field with two outs to knot things up at 3-3.
Junior Blake Coalla (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C Ketcham), who replaced Nalbone to start the 10th, would come back after allowing a run in the 11th and toss three scoreless innings to set up the Mavericks with a chance to win in the 14th.
Sophomore Bryan Gutierrez (Bronx, N.Y./In-tech Academy) led off the inning with a double to right center and would move to third on a sacrifice bunt from Hasbrouck to set up Slattery. The freshman would deliver as he hit a line drive to center which was deep enough for Gutierrez to tag up and score, giving Mercy an exciting 4-3 walkoff win in game one.
Hagan led the way in the opener with four of the Mavericks six hits and senior Vincent Luppino (Englewood Cliffs, N.J./Ramapo College) earned the win with his scoreless 14th inning. Coalla tossed a strong four innings with only one earned run allowed on three hits with six strikeouts.
Game 2: Mercy 5, Molloy 3
The nightcap saw Mercy lead from the start and not look back as they secured the sweep, scoring five runs on only three hits in game two.
After a Slattery walk, a sophomore Michael Grudzinski (Islip, N.Y./Islip) single and a wild pitch, Hagan came through with a deep sacrifice fly to center field that allowed both Slattery and Grudzinski to score to give the Mavericks an early 2-0 lead.
The Lions responded with a home run in the second to make it 2-1, but Mercy came right back in their half of the second as Hasbrouck hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score freshman John Young (New Hyde Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) to make it 3-1.
Molloy scored again in the third with an unearned tally to make it 3-2. The score remained the same until the bottom of the fourth when Mercy tacked on a pair on a two-run home run over the left field fence by Patterson to make it 5-2 after four.
That would be all the support senior pitcher Bryan Greig (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown South) would need as he finished with only two earned runs allowed on eight hits with four strikeouts to earn his fifth win. The Lions would plate a run in the seventh to make it 5-3 with two outs, but an ensuing groundout ended the game and gave the Mavericks a sweep.
Patterson, Palumbo and Grudzinski all went 1-for-3 in game two to lead the way.
Head Coach Jason Lamando and the Mavericks return to action tomorrow as they travel to Molloy for a single game beginning at 12 pm.
