POMONA, N.Y. (Apr. 28, 2018) – Led by freshman Noah Krzyzak (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) picking up the win on the mound in game two, the Mercy College baseball team dropped an 11-2 decision before taking a 5-2 victory in the nightcap against ECC foe No. 22 St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks (20-24, 9-10 ECC) snap a three-game losing streak with the win in game two, while the Spartans (31-10, 16-3 ECC) see their seven-game win streak come to an end with the game two loss. Mercy now has their most wins in a season since 1990 and currently sit 1.5 games ahead of Bridgeport for the fourth and final ECC Championship spot.
Game 1: St. Thomas Aquinas 11, Mercy 2
The Spartans took a 3-0 lead with three runs in the bottom of the first with two of them coming off a Tyler Patane two-run double. It remained 3-0 until the fourth inning when St. Thomas Aquinas scored two more runs to build a 5-0 lead. Nicholas Lucchese recorded a two-run single in the inning that gave the hosts some insurance runs.
The home team added a run in the fifth and five runs in the sixth to make it 11-0 after six innings. Mercy scored two runs in the eighth inning with junior Nicolas Hagerty (New York, N.Y./Westchester CC) scoring on a wild pitch and sophomore John Mooradian (Marlboro, N.Y./Marlboro) driving in a run on a groundout to shortstop to make it 11-2.
Mercy was unable to score again giving the Spartans the game one win.
Senior Shaine Carpenter (Florham Park, N.J./Saint Anselm College) went 2-for-4 and juniors Joseph Sadallah (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) and Anthony Murphy (Peekskill, N.Y./Peekskill) went 1-for-3. Junior Kevin Tise (New York, N.Y./University of Hartford) went 4.0 innings with five runs allowed to take the loss.
St. Thomas Aquinas was led by Patane who went 3-for-4 with four RBI and a home run. Jason Salva went 5.2 innings with no runs allowed to pick up the win.
Game 2: Mercy 5, St. Thomas Aquinas 2
Mercy struck first in game two when junior Adonis Garcia (Bronx, N.Y./Monroe College) doubled home Carpenter to make it 1-0 in the second inning. The Spartans tied the game up at 1-1 in the third inning when Lucchese homered.
The Mavericks took the lead back in the fourth inning with two runs to make it 3-1. Junior Miguel Ortiz Sanchez (Bronx, N.Y./Monroe College) led off the inning with a double and later came around to score on an error by the pitcher. Sophomore Scott Kelnhofer (New Hyde Park, N.Y./New Hyde Park) then delivered an RBI single to right field that gave Mercy a two-run lead.
St. Thomas Aquinas made it 3-2 with a run in the fifth. The Mavericks added on two insurance runs in the seventh inning to build a 5-2 lead. Sadallah scored the first run of the inning off of a throwing error by the pitcher. Ortiz Sanchez brought home the final run of the inning on a bunt that scored Mooradian.
Senior Juan Perez (Bronx, N.Y./Iowa Lakes CC) tossed a scoreless seventh inning to give the Mavericks the win.
Ortiz Sanchez went 1-for-4 with an RBI and Garcia went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Kelnhofer went 1-for-2 with an RBI and Krzyzak went 4.2 innings with two runs allowed to pick up the win. Sophomore Andrew Hernandez (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. John's University) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings before giving way to Perez who earned his third save of the year.
Lucchese went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Frankie Moscatiello went 4.0 innings to take his first loss of the season.
Head Coach Chris Schoen and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow when they host St. Thomas Aquinas at 12 p.m.
