NEWBURGH, NY – In a second slugfest between the two teams this season, the Mount Saint Mary College baseball team got the better of Vassar College once again, defeating the Brewers, 16-10, on Wednesday evening. The Blue Knights improved to 14-1 overall while Vassar fell to 2-8.

Mount Saint Mary jumped out to an early lead when the Vassar starting pitcher couldn't find the strike zone. The Blue Knights drew seven walks in the first inning and pushed across their first five runs without recording a hit. Senior Brian Visconti (Newburgh, N.Y.), the eleventh batter to the plate in the inning, recorded the first hit of the game and also drove home the sixth run of the inning.

Vassar cut the six-run deficit to four with a two-run, two-out rally in the third. Senior Ari Glantz (Cambridge, Mass.) walked and then came around to score on a double from freshman Sal Costanzo (Cooper City, Fla.). Costanzo would later score on an error by the Mount Saint Mary shortstop.

Mount Saint Mary freshman Dan McCrea (Hicksville, N.Y.) laced an RBI single in the fourth inning to score sophomore Louis Peisel (Brewster, N.Y.), making the score 7-2. Vassar responded with a run in the top of the fifth as Glantz drew yet another walk. He moved to second on a Costanzo single and scored on a base hit from sophomore Joe Castilla (Weston, Fla.).

The Blue Knights would break the game open in the bottom of the sixth, hanging six more runs on the board to make it 13-3. Junior Mike Umphlett (North Stonington, Conn.) delivered the big hit of the inning with a bases-clearing double. Umphlett would score as Visconti picked up his second RBI single of the night.

After a scoreless seventh, the Brewers mounted a comeback attempt in the top of the eighth. Castilla singled to lead off the inning, and after moving to second on a wild pitch, scored on a base hit from sophomore Joe Bubar (Washington, D.C.). Senior Zach Miller (San Francisco, Calif.) and junior Adam Murphy (Brooklyn, N.Y.) singled to load the bases, setting the table for the top of the lineup. Freshman Joseph Coniglio (Ridgewood, N.J.) singled home a run and freshman Liam Lee (East Hampton, N.Y.) drew a walk to earn an RBI. The next batter, Glantz, ripped a three-run double that made the score 13-9. Glantz scored on a Costanzo single to cut the deficit to just three, but the Brewers wouldn't get any closer.

The Mount extended its lead in the bottom half of the inning as freshman Brian McNoble (Lynbrook, N.Y.) picked up an RBI single and Peisel drove home two runs with a double. The Brewers went quietly in the ninth and the Mount walked away with a 16-10 victory.

Sophomore Matthew Paci (Florida, N.Y.) pitched five innings to claim the victory for the Blue Knights. He allowed just three hits and three runs, but walked seven batters. Freshman Carl Henchey (Coxsackie, N.Y.) pitched two scoreless innings in relief and junior Chris Gage (Saugerties, N.Y.) closed the door on the Brewers with a scoreless one-and-two-thirds innings.

Umphlett, Peisel, and senior Matthew Germann (Islip, N.Y.) each recorded three hits for the Mount. Umphlett had three RBIs and two runs, Peisel had two RBIs and three runs, and Germann tallied an RBI and two runs. McCrea finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored.

For Vassar, Costanzo finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Glantz, while drawing three walks, finished 1-for-2 with three RBIs and three runs.

Up next for Mount Saint Mary is a Skyline Conference double-header with the current first-place team, Old Westbury. The Blue Knights will host the Panthers on Saturday, March 28 in a 12:00 p.m. start. Vassar will face RPI in a Liberty League series this weekend.