LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. (Apr. 15, 2022) – Powered by 11 different Mavericks recording an RBI, the Mercy College baseball team earned a convincing 19-6 win over ECC foe Lincoln University on Friday afternoon at LU Baseball Complex.
The Mavericks (13-18-1, 6-4 ECC) snap a three-game losing streak, while the Lions (5-26, 1-9 ECC) have dropped two games in a row. The 19 runs and 19 hits for Mercy are both season highs.
Freshman Nathan Rodriguez (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton West) led the way for Mercy with a career-high four RBI going 1-for-4 at the plate. Senior Ryan Saltzman (Old Bethpage, N.Y./Plainview Old Bethpage JFK) went 2-for-3 with two RBI and senior Nikko Liguori (Branford, Conn./Franklin Pierce University) went 1-for-4 with two RBI. Freshman Alfred Hoti (New York, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) went 1-for-1 with two RBI and graduate student Robert Wootten (Ardsley, N.Y./Westchester CC) went 4-for-5 with four runs and one RBI. Freshman Jaden Caballero (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) went 2-for-4 with an RBI and junior Nolan Giblin (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville Dewitt) went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Junior Justin Glennerster (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) went 2-for-7 with three runs and an RBI and senior James Mattutat (Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman) went 1-for-2 with two runs. Junior Isaiah Ortiz (North Bergen, N.J./High Tech) went 1-for-1 with an RBI and senior Ivan Martinez Jr. (Bronx, N.Y./Towson University) went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Senior Jonathan Diforio (Harrison, N.Y./University of Delaware) pitched seven innings with six runs allowed and a career-high 13 strikeouts to earn the win. Freshman Matthew Manzoeillo (Beacon, N.Y./Beacon) pitched two scoreless innings of relief.
Lincoln was led by Jefry Azcona who went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Luis Miguel Reinoso pitched two innings with five runs allowed to take the loss.
After a scoreless first inning, Mercy scored five runs in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead. Giblin walked and Wootten singled before Glennerster singled home Giblin to make it 1-0. Rodriguez later reached on an error to bring in the second run. Saltzman then delivered a two-run single to left field, which made it 4-0. Caballero later brought home Saltzman with an RBI single to right field, making it 5-0.
Mercy tacked on two more runs in the third inning to make it 7-0. Wootten singled and Mattutat doubled before Rodriguez grounded out to bring home Wootten, giving Mercy a 6-0 lead. Mattutat later scored after a Lincoln error to make it 7-0.
Lincoln scored a run in the third inning to make it 7-1. Mercy exploded for six runs in the fourth inning to take a 13-1 lead. Caballero doubled and Giblin singled before Wootten doubled to left field, scoring Caballero to make it 8-1. Rodriguez later made it 10-1 with a two-run single to right field and Martinez Jr. plated Rodriguez with a single to put Mercy up 11-1. Liguori followed with a two-run double to put the Mavericks up 13-1.
The Lions plated another run in the fourth inning to make it 13-2. Mercy added a run in the fifth to make it 14-2. Wootten doubled and later scored on a passed ball.
The Mavericks plated a run in the sixth inning when Giblin recorded an RBI single that scored Liguori to make it 15-2.
Mercy later built the lead to 17-2 in the seventh inning. Hoti recorded an RBI single in the inning and sophomore Jared Hernandez (Moca, P.R./Friends University) drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the final run of the inning. Lincoln scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to make it 17-6.
The Mavericks scored two more runs in the top of the eighth to make it 19-6. Ortiz drew a bases-loaded walk and Hoti drew a bases-loaded hit by pitch to bring in the second run. Neither team scored in the ninth inning giving Mercy the 19-6 win.
Mercy had 19 hits and one error and Lincoln had nine hits and seven errors.
Head Coach Chris Schoen and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow when they play at Lincoln at 12 & 3 p.m.
