POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Heading into the fourth inning with a 10-0 lead, it looked like it would be an easy day for the Mount Saint Mary College baseball team. However, Vassar College refused to let the Blue Knights leave Poughkeepsie with ease, scoring ten runs in the eighth inning to draw within one run. But with night steadily coming on, the Brewers were unable to test the Blue Knights further, and the game was called heading into the ninth inning as the Mount escaped with an 18-17 win on Wednesday at Prentiss Field.

Heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Brewers faced a substantial 18-7 deficit. In his two at-bats in the inning, sophomore Charlie Gray (Upper Montclair, N.J.) notched an RBI single and then blasted an RBI triple to left field. Also coming up with big hits in the inning were sophomore Joe Bubar (Washington, DC) with an RBI double, and freshman Sal Costanzo (Cooper City, FL) with a two-RBI double. Unfortunately for the Brewers, the late game heroics were not in time, as the umpires were forced to call the game due to darkness at the conclusion of the eighth inning.

The Blue Knights jumped out to a quick lead, as first inning struggles continued to plague the Brewers. Mount Saint Mary scored six runs on six hits in the first with sophomore Louis Peisel (Brewster, N.Y.), freshman Brian McNoble (Lynbrook, N.Y.), and sophomore Billy Casey (Marlboro, N.Y.) each recording RBIs. In the bottom of the first, in strong contrast to the top of the inning, the Mount's starter, Matt Senzamici (West Babylon, N.Y.), faced just three batters and threw only 12 pitches, helping his cause by inducing a double-play ground out to clear the bases.

Two runs apiece in the second and third innings, including a Peisel home run in the third, put the Mount comfortably ahead, 10-0. But the Brewers made things interesting with seven runs in the fourth and fifth innings, knocking out Senzamici. Coniglio came through with an RBI triple in the third inning and then drilled a two-RBI double in the fourth.

However, the Blue Knights responded in the sixth with six runs on four hits, highlighted by a Jim Marsh (Maybrook, N.Y.) two-RBI triple, and a Peisel two-RBI single. Two more runs in the seventh inning gave Mount Saint Mary its apparently comfortable 18-7 lead.

Picking up the win for the Blue Knights was freshman Ben Shortlsef (Sterling, N.Y.) who entered the game in the fourth with two outs and two men on base. Shortslef pitched a scoreless one and a third inning, allowing just one hit to four strikeouts with no walks. He struck out the side in the sixth inning. Vassar starter Daniel Berkowitz (Short Hills, N.J.) took the loss, with eight runs, six earned, on seven hits.

Peisel knocked in five runs on a 2-for-5 effort for the Blue Knights, while senior Matthew Germann (Islip, N.Y.) and McNoble both went 3-for-5 at the plate. Casey was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a pair of runs.

With the marathon victory, the Blue Knights remain unbeaten in 2009, moving to 9-0. The Brewers dropped to 1-4. Up next for the Mount is their Skyline Conference opener. The Blue Knights will head to Farmingdale for a double-header on Saturday, March 21 with the games scheduled to start at noon.