NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College baseball team (11-11, 6-4 Skyline) snapped St. Joseph's College (L.I.)'s (14-12, 9-1 Skyline) undefeated record against the Skyline Conference by picking up a win in the opener of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the MSMC Baseball Field. The Knights earned a 9-7 win in game one, but fell to the Golden Eagles, 7-2, in the finale.
With the split, the Knights are now tied with Sunday's opponent, SUNY College at Old Westbury, for second in the Skyline Conference. Farmingdale State College, Purchase College and the College of Mount Saint Vincent are all 5-5 in the Skyline and are stuck in a three-way tie for third. Only four teams may qualify for the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament.
Game 1: Mount Saint Mary 9, St. Joseph's (L.I.) 7 The Knights fell into a hole early on in Saturday's opener. Third baseman Joseph Calabrese knocked in the first run of the game for the Golden Eagles in the top of the second on a hard grounder just inside the first-base bag that got through for an RBI single. Center fielder Ryan Walsh later brought another run in after reaching on an error by the shortstop. The Golden Eagles were not done there, adding one more run on a sacrifice fly by left fielder Joseph Lynn to take a 3-0 lead in the second.
Junior left fielder
Matt Cahill (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) got the Knights on the board in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly of his own. A fourth-inning rally for the Knights put them right back in the game. Freshman first baseman
Blake Keenan (Fishkill, N.Y.) blasted a ground-rule double to right-center in the bottom of the fourth, bringing sophomore shortstop
Steve Notaro (Staten Island, N.Y.) around to score and get the Knights within a run. Keenan then scored on a single to right by sophomore third baseman
Rob Peccerillo (Staten Island, N.Y.), tying the game at three runs apiece. With runners on first and third later in the inning, a passed ball allowed freshman center fielder
Johnny Vaccaro (Roslyn Heights, N.Y.) to score, putting the Knights up by a run.
The Knight lead lasted until the top of the sixth, when a sloppy inning proved costly for the home team. With two away, the Golden Eagles got their first runner on with a pop-up single after sophomore second baseman
Jimmy Papineau (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) lost the ball in the sun, allowing it to drop about 10 feet in front of him. A slow-rolling ground ball by Walsh produced another infield single, and a perfect bunt by Lynn to third base loaded the bases. Right fielder Anthony Bonilla then hit a ground ball up the middle, which Notaro made a nice play to grab, but the flip to second base was knocked away on the slide, allowing two runs to score. A wild pitch then brought in the third run, and a passed ball allowed the fourth to score and put St. Joe's up, 7-4.
The Knights later rebounded with a big rally in the home half of the seventh inning. Vaccaro opened the inning with a triple to deep right field. Freshman catcher
Ryan Hayes (Robbinsville, N.J.) then doubled just inside the third-base bag, bringing Vaccaro around to score. Cahill followed with a carbon-copy double inside the bag, bringing Hayes in from second to get back within one.
With two down, Notaro and Keenan drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Senior designated hitter
Andrew Conn (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) then singled through the right side, plating two to give the Knights an 8-7 lead. Peccerillo followed with a single to center, scoring Keenan from third to reach the eventual winning score of 9-7.
Sophomore reliever
Joey Pugliese (Highland, N.Y.) tallied the win in game one, tossing two scoreless innings in relief. Sophomore
Kevin Duffy (Wallingford, Conn.) earned the save after taking over with one away in the ninth and keeping the Golden Eagles off the board. Reliever Matt Mills suffered the loss for St. Joe's after yielding two runs in 1.2 innings.
Keenan hit 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI in the opener. Peccerillo knocked in a pair in a 2-for-4 outing. Notaro scored twice after going 2-for-3.
Lynn batted 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI to pace the Golden Eagles in game one. Walsh hit 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI, and second baseman Anthony Andreani went 2-for-4 with a run.
Game 2: St. Joseph's (L.I.) 7, Mount Saint Mary 2Both teams traded first-inning rallies to kick off game two on Saturday. The Golden Eagles got a pair of RBI singles from first baseman Brendan Sullivan and third baseman Joseph Calabrese to take a quick 2-0 lead. The Knights responded with an RBI ground out by Keenan, followed by an RBI single by Conn to tie the game.
The Knights remained scoreless for the remainder of the game, while the Golden Eagles turned in three more scoring innings later on in the game. Andreani provided an RBI double in the top of the fifth, and another run came home on a wild pitch to put the visitors up by two.
Lynn brought in another run in the top of the sixth on a single through the right side, bringing in Walsh for a 5-2 lead. They added two more in the seventh on singles by Lynn and Bonilla for the winning score of 7-2.
Glenn Patriss picked up the complete-game victory for St. Joe's after tossing all seven innings and allowed just two unearned runs. Freshman starter
Joe Pillitteri (Wallkill, N.Y.) suffered his second loss of the season after yielding four runs on eight hits and four walks in five innings.
Calabrese hit 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI for the Golden Eagles in Saturday's finale. Sullivna batted 2-for-3, knocking in a pair and scoring another. Bonilla added a run and an RBI in a 2-for-5 effort out of the leadoff spot.
Conn hit 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Knights, accounting for half of their hits in the game. Cahill went 1-for-3, and freshman right fielder
Louis DeAngelis (Brooklyn, N.Y.) tallied the fourth hit in a 1-for-3 outing of his own.
The Knights host Old Westbury tomorrow, April 19, in a vital Skyline Conference doubleheader at the MSMC Baseball Field. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
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