Newburgh, N.Y. - Thirty-four combined hits and twenty-nine combined runs later, a ninth-inning rally fell one run short as Mount Saint Mary College lost, 15-14, to John Jay College in non-conference action Tuesday evening. The Bloodhounds evened up their record at 16-16 while the Blue Knights dropped to 11-19 overall.

Trailing by three headed into the bottom half of the ninth, the first two hitters for the Mount reached with singles. After a strikeout, senior Chris Schacca (Franklin Square, N.Y.) chopped a pitch to deep in the hole at short on which there was no play, thus loading the bases. Senior Anthony Forgione (Franklin Square, N.Y.) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to make the score 15-13. Now with two outs and runners at first and second, junior Matthew Germann (Islip, N.Y.) singled through the left side, allowing senior Brian Visconti (Newburgh, N.Y.) to score from second. With the tying run on third and the winning run on second, freshman William Casey (Marlboro, N.Y.) grounded out to shortstop, ending the Mount's comeback attempt.

John Jay junior Emmanuel Rodriguez (Manhattan, N.Y.) weathered the storm in the ninth inning to pick up the save for the Bloodhounds. Junior Luis Vega (Brooklyn, N.Y.) picked up a much-deserved win. After the Blue Knights pounded out ten hits and scored eleven runs in the first three frames, Vega allowed just four hits and one run over the course of the next five innings. He struck out six as the Bloodhounds continued to chip away at an early MSMC lead.

John Jay got on the board first with four runs in the first inning. Sophomore Anthony Cestaro (Paramus, N.J.) and junior Johan Abad (Corona, N.Y.) picked up RBIs in the inning. The Blue Knights answered promptly with seven runs in the bottom of the first. Forgione, Germann, and sophomore Mike Umphlett (North Stonington, Conn.) each knocked in a run and Visconti drove home a pair with a single.

The Bloodhounds tied the game at seven in the second as junior John Massoni (Staten Island, N.Y.) nabbed an RBI with a single to right field. The Mount recaptured the lead in the bottom half of the inning with one run and then added to the advantage in the third with three more runs. Schacca delivered a two-run single and Germann picked up another RBI with a double to right-center.

Back-to-back extra base hits and a sacrifice fly by John Jay allowed the Bloodhounds to trim the lead to 11-9 in the fourth. Another run in the fifth and then three more in the six staked them to a 13-11 lead, their first since the first inning. A triple by sophomore Edwin Hernandez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in the eighth plated two more runs, pushing the score to 15-11. Junior Matthew Berger (Cochecton, N.Y.) singled home a run for the Blue Knights in the bottom of the eighth to set up the final inning intrigue.

For the Mount, Schacca finished 5-for-5 with four runs scored and a pair of runs batted in. Visconti was 3-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Germann had three hits and three RBIs while Umphlett and Forgione each collected two hits.

For John Jay, Abad was 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs and two runs scored. Hernandez and sophomore Chris Nastasi (Bayville, N.Y.) each had three hits and Nastasi and Cestaro each scored three runs.

Up next for the Mount is another non-conference game, this time against Hudson Valley rival, New Paltz. One nine-inning game is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 24 in New Paltz.