Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
FLUSHING, N.Y. – Second baseman Robert Bernardo went a combined 3-for-6 with a double, while teammates Warren Kelly and Anthony Mazzella each went 3-for-8 Sunday afternoon at Ray Metski Field, however the Queens College baseball team dropped a pair of East Coast Conference baseball games to visiting St. Thomas Aquinas College, by scores of 8-7 and 2-0.
Game 1: St. Thomas Aquinas 8, Queens 7
Both teams rapped out 13 hits apiece in the contest, as after Queens (3-16, 1-4 ECC) took a 3-1 lead through two innings of play, St. Thomas Aquinas (10-9-1, 4-1 ECC) scored six runs over the next two innings to hold a 7-3 edge. The host Knights entered the bottom of the ninth with an 8-3 deficit and cut the spread down to 8-7, but could not get any closer.
Kelly went 3-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base, while James Casella and Bernardo (SF) each went 2-for-3. Mazzella was 2-for-5 with a double at the dish.
In the three-run second inning for Queens, Bernardo and Connor Burke hit back-to-back singles to start the frame, and moved up 90 feet apiece on a passed ball. Chris Ramanauskas then singled home Bernardo, before Burke scored on a balk to give QC a 2-1 lead. Casella then scored Ramanauskas on a line out that wound up turning into a double play, giving the hosts a two-run advantage.
St. Thomas Aquinas scored two runs in the third to tie the game, then added four runs in the fourth and one in the eighth to set the stage for the QC ninth-inning rally attempt. The first four Knights hitters all singled, including the latter by Mazzella – on the play, there was an error in the outfield, allowing Casella, Kelly and Michael Shada all to score, bringing the score to 8-6 in favor of the Spartans. Bernardo's sacrifice fly then scored Mazzella, before a strike out ended the contest.
Robert Gaertner took the loss on the hill for Queens, allowing five earned runs on eight hits with one walk.
Game 2: St. Thomas Aquinas 2, Queens 0
The Spartans scored single runs in the fourth and seventh innings in support of pitchers Joe Ferrara (win; 5 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 6 K) and Mark Fochesato (save; 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 4 K). The Knights managed four hits total, and loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Fochesato got Casella to strike out looking to end the contest.
Shada and Bernardo each had a double in the contest, while Mazzella and reserve Eduardo Torres registered one hit each. Gabriel Guerrero went the distance in his first start of the season for QC, allowing nine hits and seven walks while striking out three.
Head coach Tom Sowinski's Knights are back in ECC action Tuesday afternoon (Mar. 29), when they play host to Molloy in a 3:30 p.m. contest at Ray Metski Field.
