Torres and Hagan Combine for Five RBI as Baseball Opens Series Against Bridgeport With 10-3 Victory
Box Score BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Mar. 31, 2016) – Led by a combined five RBI on the day from senior Scott Hagan (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Binghamton) and sophomore Bryan Torres (Bronx, N.Y./All Hallows) and a strong pitching performance from graduate student Matt Snyder (Albany, N.Y./University of Kentucky), the Mercy College baseball team opened up its season series with ECC foe the University of Bridgeport with a 10-3 victory on Thursday afternoon at Harbor Yard.
The Mavericks (9-12, 2-3 ECC) have now won two of their last three ECC games, while the Purple Knights (9-8-1, 3-2 ECC) see their two-game conference win streak snapped.
Torres went 2-for-6 with a game-high three RBI, while Hagan batted 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Sophomore Nick Daley (Glenwood Landing, N.Y./North Shore) finished 2-for-3 at the dish with an RBI and run scored and juniors Randal Mendez (New York, N.Y./Coppin State University) and Charles Fina (Kingston, N.Y./Ulster County CC) both ended the day 2-for-4. Freshman Nicholas Chilson (Johnson City, N.Y./Johnson City) concluded the afternoon 1-for-5 with an RBI. Snyder pitched the first 7 2/3 innings with three earned runs allowed and seven strikeouts to pick up the win and improve to 5-0.
Alnaydo Rodriguez went 2-for-2 with two RBI to lead the Purple Knights. Anthony Alicki made the start on the mound and went the first 3 2/3 innings with four earned runs allowed to take the loss.
Mercy entered the contest looking to get their offense on track and they would do just that as they finished with ten runs on 12 hits to earn the win in the opening game of the series.
After a scoreless first inning, the Mavericks scratched across a pair of unearned runs in the top of the second to take a 2-0 lead. Mendez produced one of the runs after recording a single to the shortstop early in the inning. Bridgeport put runners on first and third with no one out in the bottom half of the inning, but Snyder produced two fly outs and a groundout to end the threat.
Mercy opened up the game in the fourth when they produced four runs on three hits to take a commanding 6-0 lead. After a pair of strikeouts to start the inning, senior Giovanni Lasalandra (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) walked to get a runner on base. Daley followed with a single to center field that moved Lasalandra to third. Torres ensued with a two-RBI double to center field that scored both Daley and Lasalandra to give the Mavericks a 4-0 lead. Freshman Joseph Sadallah (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) walked and stole second to put runners on second and third. Hagan then delivered a two-RBI single to center field to score Sadallah and Torres, concluding the scoring in the inning.
Bridgeport responded with back-to-back doubles in the fourth, but could only produce one run in the frame to cut the Mercy lead to 6-1 after four innings. The Mavericks kept the pressure on the hosts as they tacked on three more runs in the fifth on three hits and on two of the five errors committed by the Purple Knights on the day. Mendez and sophomore Nick Arcabascio (Brooklyn, N.Y./Quinnipiac University) led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Mendez later came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Daley after moving over to third following a sacrifice bunt by Fina and a Bridgeport error. Arcabascio scored on the next play following another Purple Knights error to make it 8-1. Torres then came through with his third RBI of the day on a single to right field to make it 9-1, putting the game out of reach for the hosts.
Bridgeport added two runs in the fifth, but would not score again as the combination of Snyder and senior James Patterson (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) closed the door on the Purple Knights. Chilson concluded the scoring for the Mavericks with an RBI single to center field in the eighth that allowed Hagan to score after doubling in the previous at bat.
Head Coach Jason Lamando and the Mavericks resume the season series with Bridgeport tomorrow at home at 1 p.m.
