Long Island native Cody McPartland picked up right where he left off in 2016 with Dowling.
The senior RHP came on in relief for Franklin Pierce in the fifth inning of a 3-1 game and fired four shutout innings with six strikeouts in the Ravens’ 7-3 victory over Adelphi.
“Coming out of the ‘pen isn’t much different,” he said in regards to pitching in relief verse starting the game. “You still have to come in and throw strikes regardless of if you start the game, come in the fifth or close the game out, you still need the same outcome…outs!”
The Ravens took advantage of some miscues by the Panthers’ defense early in the game.
Panthers’ starter Ed Baram had really good stuff, but attempted to throw a runner out at third on a bunt and it resulted in the ball going down the left field line to allow the first run to score. In the same inning, there was a tailor-made 6-4-3 DP hit to SS Mike Stack, who flipped the ball to Zack Levinson, but he was unable to find a grip on the ball which allowed the second run to come across.
Sophomore LF Brandon Morse (Connetquot ’15) smacked his first home run of the season over the right field fence to cut the deficit to 2-1.
That was the closest the Panthers would get.
The Ravens broke the game open with four runs in the sixth inning thanks in large part to Tim Going (Islip ’14, Dowling) ripping a two-run double to center field off Daniel Taggart (Holy Trinity ’15).
McPartland came on in the fifth inning and was lights out. He put out a fire with runners on second & third with two-time All-Long Island first baseman Rob Vani stepping to the plate. The Chaminade grad smacked one down the right field line but it was corralled by Harrison Smoske.
The bright spot for the Panthers was Morse’s three-hit day. The two teams will be back in action tomorrow at 3 pm.
The Ravens had gotten off to an uncharacteristic start at 2-3–having been upset by both LIU Post and Queens College after compiling a record of 96-13 over the past two seasons including an appearance in the Div-II College World Series.
McPartland believes this team is ready to take off.
“This team is ready for a hot streak,” he said. “We have the tools to compete with any team in the nation, we just need to keep it all together and work off of each other that’s how you win games.”