CARY, N.C. (Feb. 18, 2023) – Despite three Mavericks recording an RBI, the Mercy College baseball team opened its 2023 season with an 8-7 loss to Goldey-Beacom College before falling 10-6 to RV Le Moyne College on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks (0-2) open their season with two straight losses, while the Lightning (4-0) remain unbeaten and the Dolphins (1-2) earn their first win.
Game 1: Goldey-Beacom 8, Mercy 7
The Lightning struck first in the top of the first with a run to take a 1-0 lead. Mercy would even the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. Senior Justin Glennerster (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) led off the inning with a single and later scored on a Joseph Gonzalez (Monroe, N.Y./Rockland CC) sacrifice fly.
Goldey-Beacom retook the lead with two runs in the top of the third and two more in the top of the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. The Mavericks would creep closer in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three runs to cut the Lightning's lead to one, 5-4. After the first two batters of the inning struck out, senior Nolan Giblin (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-Dewitt) singled, graduate student Steven Schoen (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./Sacred Heart University) was hit by a pitch and Glennerster walked to load the bases. Senior Janiel Ramirez (Windsor, Conn./The College of Saint Rose) would then reach second on a dropped fly ball by the Lightning right fielder, which cleared the bases to make it 5-4. After a walk put runners on first and second, a strikeout would end the inning.
The Mavericks would take their first lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two runs to take a 6-5 lead. Freshman John Nisco (Tarrytown, N.Y./Sleepy Hollow) led off the inning with a single and scored on a freshman Sean McAdams (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) RBI double to make it 5-5. McAdams later stole home after sophomore Jaden Caballero (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) stole second on a double steal to give Mercy a 6-5 lead.
The score remained 6-5 until the top of the eighth when the Lightning scored two runs to take a 7-6 lead. Goldey-Beacom added a run in the top of the ninth to make it 8-6. Gonzalez recorded an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to make it 8-7, but a groundout to shortstop ended the game with the tying run on second.
McAdams went 2-for-4 with an RBI in his collegiate debut and Gonzalez went 1-for-4 with two RBI in his Mercy debut. Caballero went 1-for-4 and Glennerster went 1-for-3 with two runs. Giblin and Nisco both went 1-for-5 with a run and sophomore Scott Scheppy (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) pitched six innings with four earned runs allowed and six strikeouts to earn a no-decision. Freshman Marcos Feliz (Boston, Mass./Southern New Hampshire University) pitched an inning with two runs allowed to take the loss.
Goldey-Beacom was led by Braden Kolmansberger who went 2-for-5 with three RBI. Lance Hinton pitched 3.1 innings of relief to earn the win. Nate Miller tossed an inning of relief to earn the save.
Mercy had seven hits and one error and Goldey-Beacom had 10 hits and two errors.
Game 2: Le Moyne 10, Mercy 6
Le Moyne jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Mercy answered with two runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead. Caballero led off the inning with a hit by pitch and stole second before scoring on a Gonzalez RBI single. Gonzalez later scored following an error by the right fielder to make it 2-1.
The Dolphins tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the third on a home run. Mercy retook the lead in the bottom of the third with two runs to take a 4-2 lead. Schoen led off the inning with a walk and Gonzalez reached on a hit by pitch. A groundout moved the runners over to second and third and an Alfred Hoti (New York, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) walk later loaded the bases. Freshman Zach Ashline (Colonie, N.Y./Colonie Central) then delivered his first hit as a Maverick, scoring both Gonzalez and Schoen to make it 4-2.
Le Moyne evened the score again in the top of the fourth with two runs to make it 4-4. The Mavericks took the lead back in the bottom of the fifth with two runs to take a 6-4 lead. Gonzalez led off the inning with a walk and scored on a balk to make it 5-4. Ashline plated the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to give Mercy a 6-4 advantage.
The Dolphins tied the game again in the seventh inning with two runs to make it 6-6. The Dolphins took the lead for good in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly to make it 7-6. Le Moyne tacked on three insurance runs in the top of the ninth to make it 10-6 heading to the bottom of the ninth. The Mavericks went down in order in the ninth inning to give Le Moyne the win.
Ashline went 1-for-3 with three RBI and Gonzalez went 1-for-2 with an RBI and three runs. Giblin went 1-for-3 and senior Ryan Gonzalez (Howell, N.J./Neumann University) went 1-for-3 with a run. Freshman Kolongi Goins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Franklin D. Roosevelt) went 1-for-4 and graduate student Kevin Seckler (Beacon, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) pitched five innings with four runs allowed to take a no-decision. Sophomore Denis Garcia (Port Chester, N.Y./Monroe College) allowed an unearned run to take the loss.
Le Moyne was led by Brody Keneston who went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI. Kennen Smith pitched four innings of relief to earn the win and Sam DiGeorge pitched two innings to earn the save.
Mercy had five hits and three errors and Le Moyne had 13 hits and one error.
Head Coach Chris Schoen and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow in Cary when they face Le Moyne and Goldey-Beacom starting at 10 a.m.
