THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College baseball team (9-9, 5-3 Skyline) picked up a split in a pair of dramatic Skyline Conference games against Maritime College (8-12, 3-5 Skyline) Sunday afternoon at Reinhart Field. A big comeback gave Maritime a 9-6 win in game one, but the Knights were the comeback kids in the finale, coming out on top, 5-4.
Game 1:The Knights appeared to have full control of Sunday's opener after scoring three runs in their first at bat of the game. Sophomore third baseman
Rob Peccerillo (Staten Island, N.Y.) knocked in the first run on an RBI ground out, and then senior center fielder
Ryan Atkins (Wallkill, N.Y.) brought in a pair on a double down the left field line for the early 3-0 lead.
The Knights improved upon the lead with another rally in the third. Peccerillo picked up his second RBI on a single to left, and then senior second baseman
David Hobbs (East Rockaway, N.Y.) knocked in another with a single to right to put the Knights up, 5-0.
Maritime got on the board in the bottom of the third on back-to-back RBI singles by designated hitter Brian McLaughlin and catcher Matthew Sollin to cut the deficit to three runs.
After a pair of scoreless innings, the Knights got another run across on a sacrifice fly by freshman first baseman
Blake Keenan (Fishkill, N.Y.), improving the lead to 6-2. The bottom of the sixth spelled doom for the Knights, as Maritime strung together seven hits and drew four walks to bring in seven runs and take a 9-6 lead, which the Privateers held on to for the final three innings for the win.
Ryan Alsdorf picked up the win for Maritime, tossing six innings and allowing six runs (five earned). Brian Hughes earned a save after going three scoreless innings in relief. Junior reliever
Logan Kurtz (Gansevoort, N.Y.) fell to 0-2 after suffering the loss. He allowed three runs on three hits in 2/3 of an inning.
McLaughlin hit 2-for-5 with two RBIs, two runs scored and a double to lead the Privateers in Sunday's opener. Third baseman Joe DiLeo went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Peccerillo hit 3-for-5 with two RBIs in the Knights' game-one loss. Atkins hit 2-for-5 and knocked in a pair. Keenan hit 1-for-2 with two runs, an RBI and two walks.
Game 2:Maritime kept its game-one momentum rolling in Sunday's finale, scoring twice in the bottom of the second for an early lead. First baseman Albert Doerbecker stroked an RBI single through the right side for the first run, and right fielder Pat Kirk brought in the other after grounding into a double play.
McLaughlin plated another run for the Privateers on an RBI ground out in the third, improving the home team's lead to 3-0. Center fielder Connor Alwan hit an RBI single up the middle in the fourth to give the Privateers a 4-0 advantage.
The Knights' bats woke up in the top of the fifth. Freshman catcher
Adrian Peralta (New York, N.Y.) knocked in a run on a single down the left-field line after back-to-back walks for the Knights to finally get them on the board. Junior left fielder
Matt Cahill (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) then brought Peralta around to score on a single through the left side, cutting the deficit to two runs.
The Knights caught a break to open the sixth, as Keenan reached base after a wild pitch on strike three. Peccerillo then reached base on a fielder's choice after Keenan was able to make it to second safely. With one away and the bases loaded, sophomore second baseman
Louis Rivera (Linden, N.J.) reached on a fielder's choice, but managed to bring Keenan around to score to get the Knights within one.
With one away in the top of the seventh, Cahill kicked off a rally with a single to left. Junior right fielder
Kristopher Fragomeni (Beacon, N.Y.) followed with a single to right center, moving Cahill over to third. Keenan came up clutch with a single up the middle, bringing Cahill around to score and tying the game. With two outs in the inning, designated hitter
Louis DeAngelis (Brooklyn, N.Y.) delivered the game-winning hit with a single up the middle to give the Knights a 5-4 lead.
Junior closer
Sean Betterly (East Meadow, N.Y.) came on in the seventh looking to pick up his second save is as many days. He got Alwan to ground out to third for the first out, but hit second baseman Chris Deddo with a pitch. He then forced shortstop Joe Longo to pop up to short for the second out. Pinch hitter Paul Woodburn managed to reach base on a throwing error by Peccerillo, advancing Deddo to third representing the tying run. Betterly worked through the dangerous situation and got Sollin to pop up to short to close out the win.
Sophomore starter
Kevin Duffy (Wallingford, Conn.) improved to 2-0 after allowing four runs in six innings and striking out six batters. Betterly did not allow a hit in earning his third save of the year. James Very suffered the loss for Maritime after allowing the winning run and three hits in 2/3 of an inning in the seventh.
Cahill had a stellar game in the Knights' win, going 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI out of the leadoff spot. Peralta hit 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Keenan batted 1-for-4, scoring a run and knocking in another.
Doerbecker went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI to pace the Privateers in game two. Alwan plated a run in a 1-for-3 effort. Deddo went 1-for-3 out of the leadoff spot with a run scored.
The Knights get a bit of a break from Skyline play this week, first taking on the College of Staten Island on Tuesday, April 14. Tuesday's away game is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.
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