DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 7, 2019) – Powered by a game-high four hits along with three RBI in game one from freshman James Dieguez (Westbury, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial), the Mercy College baseball team earned a 14-3 victory over ECC foe LIU Post in game one before falling 7-0 in game two on Sunday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (12-20, 4-8 ECC) snap a five-game losing streak with the game one win and give the Pioneers (20-10, 11-1 ECC) their first ECC loss of the season.
Game 1: Mercy 14, LIU Post 3
LIU Post opened the scoring with a run on two hits in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead.
Mercy responded with four runs on five hits to take a 4-1 lead after two innings of play. Senior Adonis Garcia (Bronx, N.Y./Monroe College) led off the inning with a single and moved to second after a Dieguez single. Freshman Ryan Saltzman (Old Bethpage, N.Y./Plainview Old Bethpage JFK) then singled to left center to score Garcia for the first run of the inning. Senior Joseph Sadallah (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) went on to double home Dieguez to give Mercy a 2-1 lead and junior John Mooradian (Marlboro, N.Y./Marlboro) finished off the scoring with a two-run double to left field that made it 4-1.
The Pioneers scored a run in the top of the third to make it 4-2, but Mercy answered in the bottom of the third with a run of their own to take a 5-2 lead. Senior Miguel Ortiz Sanchez (Bronx, N.Y./Monroe College) led off the inning with a walk and later came around to score on a Dieguez RBI single to give the Mavericks another three-run lead.
It remained 5-2 until the bottom of the fifth when Mercy scored another run to build a 6-2 lead. Mooradian scored on a wild pitch after leading the inning off with a hit by pitch.
Mercy put the game away in the bottom of the eighth with eight runs on eight hits to take a commanding 14-2 lead. Saltzman and Sadallah singled to start the rally before Mooradian singled to bring home Saltzman for the first run of the inning. Ortiz Sanchez later brought home Mooradian and Sadallah on a single up the middle which made it 9-2. Garcia followed with a single to left field that scored senior Anthony Murphy (Peekskill, N.Y./Peekskill) to give Mercy a 10-2 lead. Junior Luis Grullart (New York, N.Y./Delaware State University) got into the action with an RBI single to right field which increased the lead to 11-2. Dieguez later recorded a two-run triple that gave Mercy a 13-2 lead and sophomore Nicholas Pellegrino (Garden City Park, N.Y./Concordia College) brought home the final run of the inning on single to center field.
After a leadoff home run by the Pioneers, senior Alonso Tenya (Lima, Peru/Westchester CC) recorded three outs in a row to give Mercy the game one win.
Dieguez went 4-for-5 with three RBI and Mooradian went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Ortiz Sanchez went 1-for-3 with two RBI and Saltzman and Garcia both went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Sadallah went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Pellegrino went 1-for-5 with an RBI. Grullart went the first eight innings on the mound with two earned runs allowed to pick up his first win of the year.
LIU Post was led by Anthony Vaglica who went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Mike Stiles went 3.0 innings with five runs allowed to take the loss.
Game 2: LIU Post 7, Mercy 0
The game remained scoreless after three innings of play, but LIU Post scored three runs in the top of the fourth to take a 3-0 lead.
Mercy could only record two hits in game two and the Pioneers scored four more runs in the top of the ninth to earn a 7-0 win in game two.
Ortiz Sanchez and Garcia both went 1-for-3 and senior Kevin Tise (New York, N.Y./University of Hartford) pitched 6.0 innings with two earned runs allowed to take the loss. Junior Matteo Finocchi (Staatsburg, N.Y./FDR) tossed a scoreless inning of relief.
LIU Post was led by David Franchi who went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Joshua Loeschorn pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts to earn the win.
Head Coach Chris Schoen and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, April 12th when they host NYIT at 12 p.m.
