DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 5, 2023) – Despite a home run from freshman Niko Sorice (Rocky Point, N.Y./Rocky Point) in game two, the Mercy College baseball team dropped 7-6 and 13-5 decisions to regionally-ranked Southern Connecticut State University in their home opener on Sunday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (2-10) have dropped seven games in a row, while the Owls (6-2) have won 12 straight meetings against Mercy.
Game 1: Southern Connecticut State 7, Mercy 6
Junior Ryan Rozinski (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North) pitched four hitless innings until Connor Goggin led off the fifth inning with a home run to give the Owls a 1-0 lead. Mercy answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 1-1. Sophomore Joseph Gonzalez (Monroe, N.Y./Rockland CC) tripled with two outs and scored on a Gabe Sanders (Dunedin, Fla./Central Alabama CC) RBI single.
The Owls scored an unearned run in the seventh inning to take a 2-1 lead. The Mavericks would plate five runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a 6-2 lead. Senior Janiel Ramirez (Windsor, Conn./The College of Saint Rose) led off the inning with a triple and scored on a Connor Ruland (Islip, N.Y./Islip) RBI single to make it 2-2. Caballero later recorded a double to left field that brought home freshman Sean McAdams (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) to make it 3-2. Gonzalez doubled home Caballero to give Mercy a 4-2 lead. Senior Nolan Giblin (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-Dewitt) scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-2 and Sanders singled home Gonzalez for the final run of the inning.
Southern Connecticut State scored five runs in the top of the eighth to take a 7-6 lead. Mercy went down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings to give the Owls the game one win.
Sanders went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. Caballero went 1-for-5 with an RBI and Ruland went 1-for-2 with an RBI. Ramirez went 1-for-3 and freshman John Nisco (Tarrytown, N.Y./Sleepy Hollow) went 1-for-4. Rozinski pitched six innings with just one hit allowed and five strikeouts to earn a no-decision. Junior Gaetano Pennisi (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) allowed two runs in 0.1 innings to take the loss.
Southern Connecticut State was led by Mike Ferrett who went 1-for-4 with two RBI. Tyshaun Diaz pitched a scoreless inning of relief to earn the win and Tommy Hughes pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the save.
Mercy had eight hits and one error and Southern Connecticut State had eight hits and no errors.
Game 2: Southern Connecticut State 13, Mercy 5
The Owls took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an unearned run. The Mavericks scored a run in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1-1. Caballero doubled to lead off the inning and later scored on an error following a Sorice hit.
Southern Connecticut State scored four runs in the top of the second to take a 5-1 lead. The Mavericks immediately answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-5. Caballero brought home the first two runs on a two-run triple down the left field line to make it 5-3. Sorice then followed with his first career home run to tie the game at 5-5.
The Owls retook the lead in the top of the third following a passed ball to make it 6-5. Southern Connecticut State tacked on three runs in the fifth and four runs in the seventh to take a 13-5 lead. Mercy could not score in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Owls the sweep.
Sorice went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Caballero went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Sophomore Frankie Asaro (East Williston, N.Y./Wheatley) went 2-for-3 and freshman Kolongi Goins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Franklin D. Roosevelt) went 1-for-2. Graduate student Steven Schoen (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./Sacred Heart University) went 1-for-3 and Sanders went 1-for-4. Sophomore Nathan Rodriguez (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton West) pitched 1.1 innings with two earned runs allowed to take a no-decision. Graduate student Kevin Seckler (Beacon, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) allowed two earned runs in 3.1 innings to take the loss.
Southern Connecticut State was led by Andrew Eng who went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Nick Guarino pitched six innings to earn the win.
Mercy had 10 hits and two errors and Southern Connecticut State had 13 hits and two errors.
Head Coach Chris Schoen and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, March 7th when they play at Southern Connecticut State at 3 p.m.