Torres Homers and Mendez Drives in Two as Baseball Hosts Bridgeport
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 1, 2016) – Despite a home run from sophomore Bryan Torres (Bronx, N.Y./All Hallows) and two RBI from junior Randal Mendez (New York, N.Y./Coppin State University), the Mercy College baseball team dropped a 5-4 decision to the University of Bridgeport in an ECC matchup at Mercy Field on Friday afternoon.
The Mavericks (9-13, 2-4 ECC) fail to build off their win yesterday, while the Purple Knights (10-8-1, 4-2 ECC) have won five of their last seven games.
Torres ended the day 2-for-5 with an RBI and run scored, while Mendez batted 3-for-4 with two RBI and a double. Senior Justin Palladino (Yonkers, N.Y./Westchester CC) and sophomore Nick Arcabascio (Brooklyn, N.Y./Quinnipiac University) both went 2-for-4 with Arcabascio also recording an RBI. Sophomore John Young (New Hyde Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) went 2-for-2 off the bench, while junior Matt Nalbone (Islip, N.Y./Islip) went the distance on the mound with one earned run allowed and nine strikeouts.
Bridgeport was led by Alnaydo Rodriguez, Ben Torres and Isaiah Rivera who all went 2-for-4 on the day with a run scored. Dakota Edwards made the start on the mound and pitched a complete game with four earned runs allowed and nine strikeouts to earn the win.
Mercy looked to build off the momentum from their win yesterday over the Purple Knights and they got off to a good start as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead after the first inning. After two groundouts to start the inning, senior Scott Hagan (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Binghamton) was hit by a pitch to put a runner on first. Palladino followed with a single to left center that moved Hagan to third. Mendez then continued his recent hot streak with a single to right field, scoring Hagan to make it 1-0.
Bridgeport answered with a run in the top of the second on a double steal that evened up the score at 1-1 after two hits in the frame. The game remained 1-1 until the top of the fifth when the Purple Knights scratched across an unearned run to take a 2-1 advantage.
The Mavericks retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth as Mendez doubled home Hagan, who had led off the inning with a single, to make it 2-2. Arcabascio later followed with an RBI single to right field that scored Mendez to give Mercy a 3-2 lead after six innings.
Nalbone pitched two scoreless innings to keep the Mavericks ahead, but Mercy could not add on an insurance run and the score remained 3-2 heading to the ninth. After a pair of singles and a hit by pitch, the Purple Knights had the bases loaded and no outs. Nalbone then stepped up and induced a pair of groundouts with runners being thrown out at home twice to get the first two outs of the inning. The bases remained full with two outs with Casey Ouellette at bat. Nalbone got another groundout, but a Mercy error would lead to two Bridgeport runs scoring, giving the Purple Knights a 4-3 lead with runners on first and third.
Ouellette stole second to put two runners in scoring position before Daren Grabowski singled to center, scoring Isaiah Rivera to make it 5-3. The damage would be stopped as Hagan gunned down Ouellette at the plate for the third out of the inning.
After a groundout to lead off the bottom of the ninth, Torres homered to left field to get the Mavericks within a run at 5-4. Young then followed with a single to center field and sophomore Liam Slattery (Floral Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) stole second as a pinch runner for Young, putting the tying run in scoring position. However, Edwards got a strikeout and a lineout to end the game, completing the come-from-behind victory for the Purple Knights.
Head Coach Jason Lamando and the Mavericks resume the series with Bridgeport tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.
