FLUSHING, N.Y. (Mar. 23, 2019) – Despite two home runs from senior Adonis Garcia (Bronx, N.Y./Monroe College), the Mercy College baseball team dropped 8-4 and 20-10 decisions to ECC foe Queens College in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Hennekens Stadium.
The Mavericks (9-12, 1-2 ECC) have dropped three of their last four games, while the Knights (11-7-1, 2-1 ECC) have won seven of their last eight games.
Game 1: Queens 8, Mercy 4
After a scoreless first inning, Mercy took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on two hits and a Queens error. Garcia reached on an error before senior Nicolas Hagerty (New York, N.Y./Westchester CC) singled to put runners on first and second. Sophomore Paul Cozzolino (Ossining, N.Y./Ossining) followed with a single on a bunt to load the bases. Junior Rafael Perez (Yonkers, N.Y./Corning CC) then brought in Garcia after a double play to make it 1-0.
Mercy added on two more runs in the top of the third to take a 3-0 lead. Junior John Mooradian (Marlboro, N.Y./Marlboro) struck out but reached first on an error by the catcher. Senior Anthony Murphy (Peekskill, N.Y./Peekskill) then followed with a two-run home run to right field to make it 3-0.
Queens crept closer in the third inning when they scored two runs to make it 3-2. It remained 3-2 until the bottom of the fifth when the Knights scored a run to tie the game up at 3-3.
The Mavericks retook the lead in the top of the sixth with a run on three hits. Hagerty singled to lead off the inning and Perez later singled to put runners on first and second. Senior Joseph Sadallah (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) came through with an RBI single through the left side that scored Hagerty to give Mercy a 4-3 lead.
Queens took the lead in the bottom of the sixth with two runs on two hits and a Mercy error. A Jon Strauss RBI triple brought in the first run and a Ron Linsalato single brought in the second run to give Queens a 5-4 lead.
The Knights scored three more runs in the seventh inning to take an 8-4 lead and they held on for the game one win.
Sadallah went 2-for-5 with an RBI and Murphy went 1-for-4 with two RBI. Perez went 1-for-4 with an RBI and Hagerty went 2-for-4. Sophomore Jack Kelly (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) made the start on the mound and went 4.0 innings with three runs allowed to take the no-decision. Junior Matteo Finocchi (Staatsburg, N.Y./FDR) pitched 2.1 innings with three earned runs allowed to take the loss.
Queens was led by Strauss who went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Dennis Buckstein pitched 6.0 innings with two earned runs allowed to pick up the win.
Game 2: Queens 20, Mercy 10
A slugfest broke out in game two with the team's combining for 30 runs and 24 hits. Mercy jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on two hits and two Queens errors. Sadallah led off by reaching on an error by the shortstop. Mooradian followed with a hit by pitch to put runners on first and second. Sadallah later advanced to third on a fly out and Mooradian stole second to put runners on second and third. Hagerty walked to load the bases before Garcia brought home Sadallah on a single up the middle to make it 1-0. Freshman Ethan McMenamy (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West) then delivered a two-run single that scored Hagerty and Mooradian to give Mercy a 3-0 lead.
Garcia gave the Mavericks a 4-0 lead in the top of the third when he smacked a home run down the left field line. Mercy tacked on five more runs in the top of the fourth to take a 9-0 lead. Mooradian recorded an RBI single and Garcia hit a grand slam later in the inning to give the Mavericks a nine-run lead.
Queens battled back in the bottom of the fourth with seven runs on five hits to make it 9-7. Freshman James Dieguez (Westbury, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) homered in the top of the fifth to put Mercy up three, 10-7.
The Knights responded in the bottom of the fifth with a 13-run inning on nine hits to take a 20-10 lead after five innings. Mercy could not score again giving Queens the game two win.
Garcia went 3-for-4 with two home runs and six RBI and McMenamy went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Dieguez went 1-for-2 with a home run and Mooradian went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Junior James Jakuba (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Central Connecticut State University) went 4.0 innings with ten earned runs allowed to take the loss.
Queens was led by Nick Font who went 2-for-4 with five RBI. Brandon Hoskins pitched 3.0 innings of relief to earn the win.
Head Coach Chris Schoen and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow when they host Queens at 12 p.m.
