by Mike Merolle
With the stormy weather to start the weekend, there were postponements of games for our slate of baseball. There were no Saturday matchups for the local Division-II and Division-III schools due to rain. However, there was more Division-I action.
Division-I:
Stony Brook 5 Virginia Tech 11
Stony Brook visited Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia on Saturday for an early-season matchup. The Seawolves fell short after losing 11-5 despite a decent amount of offense coming from their end.
Freshman Erik Paulsen notched three hits including his first collegiate home run. Last week, Paulsen provided a large impact on the mound in their 5-2 upset victory over the reigning NCAA baseball champs LSU. This week, he made his best effort at the plate providing big hits with 2 RBIs. Senior Matt Brown-Eiring also made an impact for Stony Brook with his three-hit afternoon.
Their efforts werent enough as it seemed nearly every Virginia Tech player was clicking in the batting order. Eddie Micheletti Jr. and Sam Tackett went yard for Virginia Tech. Micheletti Jr., Tackett, Chris Cannizzaro, and Ben Watson had multi-RBI afternoons.
Ty Saunders was given the loss for his efforts on the mound for Stony Brook. Saunders allowed seven hits, four walks, six earned runs, and pitched two strikeouts in 3.1 innings. For Virginia Tech, Wyatt Parliament went five innings allowing five hits, three earned runs, and throwing one strikeout.
Stony Brook will look for redemption on Sunday against Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. EST. Hofstra vs New Mexico (doubleheader)
Game 1: Hofstra 16 New Mexico 15 (10 innings)
Game 2: Hofstra 7 New Mexico 11 (7 innings)
In a scheduled doubleheader, Hofstra traveled to Albuquerque. New Mexico to visit the Lobos. The story of both games was the offenses.
Game one was a back-and-forth match with nine lead changes. Hofstra was able to break an 11-11 tie in the eighth inning after adding three runs. With the bases loaded, Alex McCoy took a walk adding a run, Will Kennedy reached on an error and drove one in, and Matt Pelcher hit a sacrifice fly. However, New Mexico did the same in the bottom of the eight after adding three runs of their own making the game 14-14.
The game went to extra innings and featured a two-run blast by McCoy in the top of the 10th. Cade Henry closed the game out on the mound for the Pride earning the save. Hofstra won game one 16-15.
Russell Hunter was rewarded the win after coming on in relief. Among the scoresheet was Santino Rosso who recorded five hits and four RBIs. Dylan Palmer recorded four hits with four runs.
Game two continued the battle of the bats. Hofstra took an early 4-0 lead in the first inning. McCoy had an RBI single, Pelcher added a two-run RBI double, and Luke Masiuk provided an RBI single. New Mexico added two runs in their ha;f of the first inning and was followed by Hofstra adding two of their own in the top of the second. Ethan Ott hit a home run for New Mexico and was followed by Steve Harrington blasting a solo shot for Hofstra after.
Nex Mexico went on to score four runs in the fifth inning and sealed the deal after adding three more in the sixth. Carlos Martinez was given the loss on the bump for the Pride however he had a career-high eight strikeouts in four innings.
Hofstra will close the series in New Mexico on Sunday at 2 pm EST. Fordham vs Wofford (doubleheader)
Game 1: Fordham 3 Wofford 6
Game 2: Fordham 3 Wofford 29
After a rain-out on Fridays game, Fordham was tasked with playing Wofford in a Saturday doubleheader in Spartanburg, SC. The Rams were unable to secure a victory in the two games after losing one 6-3 and the second 29-3.
The Rams made game one competitive. Their first-inning scoring was thanks to Tommy McAndrews reaching on an error allowing Daniel Bucciero to score. Wofford immediately tied the game with a Marshall Toole lead-off home run. All six runs scored by Wofford in game one came from home run scoring.
The Rams loaded the bases in the second and scored one run after Ryan Thiesse was hit by a pitch. Woffords Brice Martinez and Tyler Hare each provided two solo homers giving Wofford a 3-2 lead.
Fordhams Andrew Kanellis hit a solo shot of his own but it wasnt enough as Wofford kept piling on. Aric Berg was given the loss for the Rams after allowing three home runs on three hits allowed in two innings.
Game two wasnt any prettier as Wofford slaughtered the Rams on the scoresheet. The three runs for Fordham came in the sixth after a two-run double was hit by Michael Brueser and Jack Vallario drove a run in on a fielders choice.
The highlight player for Wofford was Dixon Black. Black went three-for-three with five runs scored and two RBIs. Fordham will look to perform better on Sunday against Wofford at 1 pm EST.
St. Johns 8 Sam Houston 12
After taking the first game of the series on Friday, St. Johns fell to Sam Houston on Saturday, 12-8. The offensive power from Sam Houston was enough to carry them to the end over the rallying Johnnies.
After a three-run shot by Jeffrey David and a two-run homer by Blake Brown in the third inning, Sam Houston was in good shape early. The Johnnies got to work in the fifth inning adding three runs of their own. Anthony Brienza hit an RBI single, Jackson Tucker reached on a fielders choice scoring Adam Agresti, and Garrett Scavelli hit an RBI single.
Sam Houston added six more runs making the score 12-3 in the sixth. A late rally wasnt enough for St. Johns as Cristian Bernardini hit a two-run home run to center field in
the eighth. Agresti followed in the ninth homering a solo shot to center field. Tucker and Max Aude had an RBI each as well making the final score 12-8.
Louis Marinaro was given the loss for the Johnnies after allowing five earned runs, five walks, and four hits in 2.1 innings.
St. Johns will aim to take the series victory on Sunday against Sam Houston in Texas at 1 pm EST.
LIU vs Radford (doubleheader)
Game 1: LIU 4 Radford 18 (8 innings)
Game 2: LIU 7 Radford 9
After being rained out on Friday, LIU was slated to play a doubleheader against Radford on Saturday. The Sharks fell short in both contests 18-4 and 9-7.
Although the rain from Friday stopped, Radford was pouring out runs in game one. Radford took a 3-0 lead by the second inning thanks to a Cameron Pittman RBI single. Four more runs were added by the fourth making the game 7-1. From there, the offense kept tallying the score leading to an eventual 18-4 victory in eight innings.
LIUs offense was highlighted by JC Navarros solo home run and Jake Mastillos two RBIs and double. Garrett Yawn received his third loss on the season for LIU after allowing six runs on eight hits and three walks in 3.1 innings.
Game two was a closer contest. Radfords Conner Butler opened the scoring in the first with a solo home run to left center. LIUs Jacob Pipercic made a sacrifice bunt scoring Noah Sorensen to tie the game. Radford retook the lead after Ben Williams hit a solo home run. LIU quickly took it back after having a five-run fifth inning. Radfords three-run response in their half of the fifth tied the game, 6-6.
A two-run homer by Carson Bell and an RBI single by Corbin Grantham sealed the game despite LIUs Connor Price hitting an RBI double in the ninth. Dominic Pieto started the game on the mound for LIU and he recorded seven strikeouts despite allowing five earned runs on seven hits. Jack Vandoran was given the loss after coming on for relief after striking out two but allowing two earned runs in 1.1 innings.
LIU will seek redemption on Sunday against Radford in Virginia at 1 pm EST.