Wappingers Falls, N.Y. – Senior
Joey Pugliese (Highland, N.Y.) drove in the game winning run in the bottom of the seventh in a 4-3 game two victory over St. Joseph's-L.I. on Monday as the Mount Saint Mary College Baseball team rallied from a 9-3 game one loss for a Skyline Conference split with the Golden Eagles.
Game 1: St. Joseph's-L.I. 9 – Mount Saint Mary College 3
The Knights jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the opener after plating single runs in the second and third innings.
Nicholas Terzulli (Brooklyn, N.Y.) drove in the game's first run when he singled home
Vincenzo Pepe (Middletown, N.Y.) with two outs in the second and
Nick Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.) scored in the third on a sacrifice fly from
John Santana (Warwick, N.Y.).
The two run lead held up until the sixth when St. Joseph's-L.I. plated four runs to pull in front for good in the game. The big blow in the inning was a three-run triple off the bat of Anthony Raucci. The visitors added three runs in the seventh with the help of a two-run double from Lou Doria and a run scoring double from Daniel Campanelli.
St. Joseph's plated two more runs in the eighth to spread its lead to 9-2 before the Knights plated a run in their final at-bat to close the scoring in the game. The first three hitters in the ninth singled for the Mount, including
Kevin Colgan (Islip, N.Y.) who drove in Santana with a single through the left side.
Pepe led the Knights with two hits in the opener and scored a run. Santana recorded a hit, run and RBI for the Knights with Rizzo adding a run.
Doria finished game one 3-for-5 with three runs and three RBI for St. Joseph's, with Matthew Burnett and Paul Britt each scoring a pair of runs.
Ryan Hayes (Robbinsville, N.J.) suffered the loss in game one, allowing three runs on three hits in 5.0 innings. He struck out two and walked four as he fell to 0-2 on the season.
Sal Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.) worked a scoreless ninth for the Knights in the opener. Nick Clemente earned the win for the visitors, working 8.0 innings, allowing two runs on five hits.
Game 2: Mount Saint Mary 4 – St. Joseph's-L.I. 3
The Knights built a 3-1 lead in game two that stood until the seventh inning when the Golden Eagles plated two runs to knot the score at 3-3. Doria was in the middle of the rally again, plating a pair of runs with double to even things heading into the Knights' final at-bat.
Tom Huvane (Eastchester, N.Y.) led off the seventh with a single and after
Kevin Edgar (Southampton, N.Y.) walked with one out, Pugliese played the hero with a shot up the right center field gap that chased Huvane home with the game's deciding run.
Mount Saint Mary opened the scoring for the second time on Monday in the second inning when
Christopher Introcaso (Newburgh, N.Y.) drove his third home run of the season out to left center field to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.
After St. Joseph's evened things at 1-1 in the top of the fifth, the Knights plated single runs in the home half of the inning, the sixth and the seventh capped by Pugliese's game winning hit. The Mount's second run crossed on Edgar single up the middle and Rizzo scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to open the two run lead.
Huvane finished off game two 2-for-3 with a double and a pair of runs scored as the Mount was outhit in the game 7-5. Edgar, Pugliese and Introcaso all finished the game with a hit and a run batted in for the Knights.
Christopher Ruggiero (Newburgh, N.Y.) took a no decision for the Mount following 6.1 effective innings. He allowed two earned runs on seven hits and struck out eight. Freshman
Alexander Maher (Mineola, N.Y.) collected his first career win with 0.2 innings of scoreless relief work.
Monday's split moves Mount Saint Mary to 4-15 overall and to 2-4 in Skyline Conference play. Next up for the Knights is a midweek non-conference date with Manhattanville on Wednesday. First pitch at Dutchess Stadium is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
