WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College baseball team (2-5) rallied for four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to pick up a 5-4 victory over Baruch College (3-9) Sunday afternoon at Dutchess Stadium.
A combination of luck and clutch hitting helped the Knights mount a comeback in the eighth. Junior first baseman
Matt Cahill (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) opened the frame with a single, and sophomore designated hitter
Jimmy Papineau (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) followed with a walk to get the oven warming. Sophomore shortstop
Steve Notaro (Staten Island, N.Y.) also drew a walk, loading the bases before recording an out in the inning.
Junior right fielder
Kristopher Fragomeni (Beacon, N.Y.) brought in the first run of the inning for the Knights, but did so by grounding into a double play. Now with two outs and a runner on third, Baruch starter Paul Perez was relieved by Matthew Fazio.
Fazio appeared to get himself out of the inning after forcing sophomore third baseman
Rob Peccerillo (Staten Island, N.Y.) to ground out to short, but the shortstop bobbled the ball, bringing in a run and putting Peccerillo on first, representing the tying run. Freshman
Blake Keenan (Fishkill, N.Y.) was then sent up to pinch hit for the Knights, and came through with a long fly ball to deep center that narrowly fell past the center fielder's mitt to land in for an RBI double, tying the game at 4-4. After senior left fielder
Ryan Atkins (Wallkill, N.Y.) drew a walk, freshman center fielder
Johnny Vaccaro (Roslyn Heights, N.Y.) grounded to third, but the ball was thrown away, bringing in the winning run for the Knights.
The Knights fell into an early hole after third baseman Jasdeep Buttar hit an RBI double in the top of the first to put the Bearcats up, 1-0. They quickly responded after Cahill opened the bottom of the first with a double, and then came in to score on a single by Papineau.
The Bearcats took the lead once again in the top of the second on a double off the right-center wall by first baseman Zachary Uher that brought in designated hitter Eric Ulino to put Baruch up, 2-1. The Bearcats scored again in the fifth on a ground out by Buttar, and again in the seventh on another double by Buttar to deep center to put the Bearcats up, 4-1, before the Knights rallied back in the eighth.
Junior
Ryan Turton (Westbury, N.Y.) picked up the win to improve to 2-0 on the season after working three innings in relief. He allowed a run and three hits, but struck out five batters across his nine outs. Fazio was tagged with the loss for Baruch to fall to 1-2 after allowing the tying and winning runs (both unearned). Perez went 7.2 innings after drawing the start for the Bearcats, allowing three runs (two earned) and striking out six.
Cahill hit 2-for-3 out of the leadoff spot for the Knights with a double, a stolen base and two runs scored. Papineau scored once and knocked in another after going 1-for-3 on the afternoon. He also swiped a bag in the win.
Buttar went 2-for-5 with three RBI and a pair of doubles for Baruch. Uher hit 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI.
The Knights are scheduled to play next on Tuesday, March 24, against New Jersey City University at Mount Saint Mary College at 4 p.m. The game is in question due to the results of the harsh winter on the campus baseball field, so check MSMCKnights.com on Monday and Tuesday for all schedule updates.
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