Hagan and Nalbone Help Lead Baseball to Series Win Over Virginia State With 10-1 Victory
Box Score ETTRICK, Va. (Mar. 6, 2016) – Led by a 4-for-5 afternoon with two RBI and a home run from senior Scott Hagan (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Binghamton) and a strong outing on the mound from junior Matt Nalbone (Islip, N.Y./Islip), the Mercy College baseball team defeated Virginia State University, 10-1, in the final game of a three-game set on Sunday afternoon at Whaley Colbert Field.
The Mavericks (3-5) take two of three from the Trojans (1-10) who have lost 10 of their first 11 games to begin the season.
Hagan also added a run scored, while freshman Nicholas Chilson (Johnson City, N.Y./Johnson City) went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Sophomore Nick Daley (Glenwood Landing, N.Y./North Shore) batted 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored and both senior Giovanni Lasalandra (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) and junior Randal Mendez (New York, N.Y./Coppin State University) went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Sophomore Nick Arcabascio (Brooklyn, N.Y./Quinnipiac University) concluded his strong weekend with a 3-for-6 day with an RBI and run scored. Nalbone pitched seven innings of one run ball with seven strikeouts to pick up his first win of the season.
After a scoreless first two innings, the Mavericks got on the board first in the top of the third as Mendez drove home sophomore Bryan Torres (Bronx, N.Y./All Hallows) who had walked in the inning to give Mercy a 1-0 lead. Virginia State answered with their lone run of the game in the bottom of the fourth to knot the score up at 1-1.
Hagan would not let the game remain tied long as he came back in the fifth and smacked a two-run home run to score Daley and give Mercy a 3-1 lead. The Mavericks tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth on five hits as Lasalandra and Daley each contributed RBI singles in the frame to put Mercy up 5-1.
Chilson drove home junior Charles Fina (Kingston, N.Y./Ulster County CC) on one of the Mavericks 19 hits on the day in the seventh to increase the Mercy lead to 6-1. An RBI groundout by junior James Waters (Troy, N.Y./Fulton Montgomery CC) in the eighth put the Mavericks lead up to 7-1 as the junior drove home Arcabascio who had singled earlier in the inning.
Mercy concluded its scoring in the top of the ninth as Chilson, Daley and Arcabascio each netted RBI singles to put the Mavericks up 10-1. The deficit proved too much for the hosts to overcome and Mercy finished off the series win.
Head Coach Jason Lamando and the Mavericks return home when they host Pace University in their home opener on Tuesday, March 8th at 3 p.m.
