Newburgh, N.Y. – After holding off Old Westbury and scoring a 9-8 First Round win over the Panthers on Wednesday, the Mount Saint Mary College Baseball team continues play in the 2018 Skyline Conference Championship on Friday afternoon. The Knights will open the double elimination portion of the tournament against second seeded St. Joseph's-L.I. with Live Stats and Video available for those who cannot make the 3:00 p.m. contest to be played at Farmingdale State.
At A Glance: The Knights, the third seed in the tournament, advanced to the double elimination round of the tournament with a 9-8 win over Old Westbury on Wednesday.
Kevin Edgar (Southampton, N.Y.) drove in four runs in the win, while
Blake Keenan (Fishkill, N.Y.) finished with three hits, including a double and a triple.
Christian Spano (Mahopac, N.Y.) earned the win in relief with 4.0 innings out of the pen, allowing one earned run and striking out three.
Nick Zestanakis (Bayside, N.Y.) earned his second save of the season, recording the final out of the game with the bases loaded.
Wednesday's win pushed Mount Saint Mary to 22-10-1 overall on the season and gives the Knights the most wins in a season since going 21-18 in 2012.
The Knights feature eight players hitting better than .300 on the season, led by a .348 average from freshman
Steven Mirra (Wallingford, Conn.).
Anthony Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.) is batting .341, while
Christopher Introcaso (Newburgh, N.Y.) is checking in with a .333 average to go along with three home runs and a team-high 33 RBI.
Keenan is putting together a standout all-around season, hitting .329 for the Knights with 10 doubles and 15 RBI, while
John Santana (Warwick, N.Y.) and
Nick Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.) are tied for the team lead in runs scored with 27.
Keenan leads the pitching staff with a 5-1 record and a 2.44 earned run average in a team-high 48 innings pitched. He paces the Mount with 39 strikeouts and three complete games. Spano enters the weekend at 4-1 with a 3.52 earned run average with
Jake Stewart (Wallkill, N.Y.) holding a 3-3 mark and a 3.80 earned run average.
Ryan Hayes (Robbinsville, N.J.) has won five ball games and fanned 36 hitters for the Mount.
A Look At St. Joseph's-L.I. – The Golden Eagles enter Friday's game at 22-14 and have won their last nine ball games. St. Joseph's is hitting .314 as a team and holds a 4.47 staff earned run average.
Paul Britt leads the offensive attack with a .411 batting average in 112 at-bats to go along with 35 runs scored and 31 driven in. Tyler Sanderson is hitting .380 for the Golden Eagles and has scored 25 runs. Anthony Raucci is also putting together a strong offensive season with a .365 batting average, 22 runs scored and 27 RBI.
Nick Mannarino enters the weekend with a 4-2 record on the mound and a 1.67 earned run average, while Anthony Papa holds a 3-2 record with a 2.65 earned run average. Joseph Murphy is 4-1 for the Golden Eagles with a 3.15 earned run average and a team-high 40 strikeouts.
Recent History: Since the start of the 2008 season, the Knights and Golden Eagles have met 27 times, including five times in the conference championship tournament. St. Joseph's has won eight of the last 10 meetings and is 21-6 overall, including a sweep during the 2018 regular season. The two teams met twice in last year's conference championship, with St. Joseph's scoring an 18-4 win before the Knights eliminated the Golden Eagles with an 8-5 win in the loser's bracket final.
What's Next: The winner of Friday's contest will advance to the winner's bracket and take on the winner of USMMA and Farmingdale State on Saturday, while the loser will return to action at 6:00 p.m. on Friday in the first elimination game of the weekend.
