PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College baseball team (4-5, 2-0 Skyline) picked up two victories against Yeshiva University (0-6, 0-6 Skyline) to open its Skyline Conference schedule Friday morning at Purchase College. The Knights earned an 8-2 win in the opener, then capped off the day with a 7-0 victory to complete the sweep.
Game 1: The Knights took an early lead in game one and never trailed from that point forward. Freshman designated hitter
Blake Keenan (Fishkill, N.Y.) brought in the first run in the top of the first with an RBI double down the right-field line to put the Knights up, 1-0. The Knights doubled their lead in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly by junior first baseman
Matt Cahill (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.). Another sacrifice fly in the third by junior right fielder
Kristopher Fragomeni (Beacon, N.Y.) put the Knights up, 3-0, and a single by senior left fielder
Ryan Atkins (Wallkill, N.Y.) later in the inning left the Knights up, 4-0, after three.
Yeshiva cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of runs. Left fielder Chaim Rosenberg singled in a run to right field, and then first baseman Zachary Perl plated another with a sacrifice fly later in the inning, leaving the Maccabees down, 4-2.
The Knights scored on their third sacrifice fly of the game in the eighth inning, this time off the bat of sophomore shortstop
Steve Notaro (Staten Island, N.Y.), to improve the lead to three runs. They scored three runs in the ninth, two on an error and the third on a double by freshman center fielder
Louis DeAngelis (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to cap off the scoring for Friday's opener.
Junior
Sean Betterly (East Meadow, N.Y.) improved to 1-0 with the win on Friday after allowing just two runs on four hits through six innings of work. He also struck out five batters. Benjy Blumenthal suffered the loss and fell to 0-4 on the year after yielding four runs (three earned) in six frames.
Notaro had a big first game, going 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, a RBI and two stolen bases. Sophomore third baseman
Rob Peccerillo (Staten Island, N.Y.) batted 2-for-3 with two runs and a stolen base. Keenan knocked in one run in a 2-for-4 outing, while freshman catcher
Ryan Hayes (Robbinsville, N.J.) also hit 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and a swiped bag.
In total, the Knights tallied seven stolen bases and four doubles in an impressive offensive effort in Friday's first game.
Shortstop Joseph Miller hit 2-for-3, while center fielder Elan Paul went 2-for-4 with a run for the Maccabees. Rosenberg scored once and knocked in another in a 1-for-4 effort.
Game 2:The Knights first got on the board in the third inning of game two, bringing home a pair of runs for an early lead. Sophomore second baseman
Louis Rivera (Linden, N.J.) opened the inning with a triple down the right field line, and was quickly plated on a double by Cahill in the next at bat to put the Knights up, 1-0. After stealing third, Cahill managed to score on a passed ball to double the lead to two.
Fragomeni drove in the next run in the top of the fifth, bringing Notaro around to score on a single through the left side. DeAngelis followed Fragomeni with another RBI single to put the Knights up, 4-0.
The Knights turned in another two-run inning in the sixth to go up, 6-0, on the Maccabees. Cahill brought in another run with a single through the left side, scoring Rivera from second. Later in the frame, Notaro brought in the other run on a sacrifice fly. Rivera hit a sacrifice fly of his own in the seventh to add one more run for the Knights and put them up, 7-0.
Freshman
Chris Wolfe (Beacon, N.Y.) earned his first collegiate victory and improve to 1-1 on the season after tossing a complete game shutout in Friday's finale. He went the full seven innings, striking out six and allowing just three hits. Jonathan Gardner also went the distance for Yeshiva, but allowed seven runs (four earned) on 11 hits and three walks.
Cahill was the offensive star of game two for the Knights, going 2-for-5 with two runs, two RBI, a double and two stolen bases. Freshman center fielder
Johnny Vaccaro (Roslyn Heights, N.Y.) went 3-for-4, and Rivera batted 1-for-3 with two runs, a RBI, a triple and a stolen base. Fragomeni turned in a 2-for-3 effort with an RBI and a double, while DeAngelis hit 1-for-3 with an RBI and a double.
Yeshiva was led by Paul, who went 2-for-2 with a stolen base. Perl went 1-for-3 with a double.
The Knights return to action on Sunday, March 29, when they take on Purchase College in Skyline Conference action. Originally a home game for the Knights, the doubleheader has been relocated to Purchase. The Knights will remain the home team for both games. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 12 p.m.
Follow the Knights on Twitter at
@MSMCKnights
