FLUSHING, N.Y. (May 4, 2019) - On an afternoon that started with Senior Day celebrations and inconsistent steadiness of rain showers, the Queens College baseball team ended the Saturday (May 4) with blue skies and sunshine but two losses to LIU Post at Hennekens Stadium. With scores of 6-2 and 2-0, the Knights slipped into a three-way tie for fourth place and the final playoff position in the conference going into the final day of the regular season.
Game One: LIU Post 6, Queens (NY) 2
Dennis Buckstein would get the start in the opening contest for the Knights and would open with a 1-2-3 inning. Meanwhile, Queens got to LIU Post starter Noah Lorenzo early as
Eric Roubal punched a two-out single into center field to bring home
Anthony Scotti with the game's first run. Buckstein then cruised through the top of the second inning as a steady rain began to pour on Hennekens Stadium, causing a brief delay in the proceedings. When the game resumed, Lorenzo and Buckstein dueled with zeroes across the board until the sixth inning. The Pioneers got the first two batters of the frame on base before Chris Wasson dropped down a bunt to the left-side of the infield. Aggressively, the Knights attempted to get the lead run at third base but
Brian Watters' throw was wide of the bag and allowed the tying run to come home. Later in the inning, Anthony Vaglica roped a two-run single to left-center field to give the Pioneers the lead for good.
Buckstein literally left it all on the mound for the Knights, pitching into the seventh inning while his pitch count soared to 146 total pitches. The senior mixed his normal pitches with a knuckleball towards the end of the contest and struck out seven batters while surrendering four earned runs on six hits. Queens tagged Lorenzo and reliever Julian Arcos for eleven hits in the loss, three of which came from lead-off hitter
Jon Strauss. Matt Gutleber also had two hits for the Knights in the effort.
Game Two: LIU Post 2, Queens (NY) 0
In the second game, a battle raged between senior pitcher Mike Lamneck of Queens and freshman sensation Josh Loeschorn of LIU Post; the latter of the two pitchers came into the contest with an 8-0 record overall and a win in all six of his prior conference pitching performances. The two went toe-to-toe through the first three innings with just two hits surrendered amongst the hurlers, but LIU Post broke the ice in the fourth inning. Two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for the Pioneers and Michael Greene lined out to right field to bring home Mike Manzione with the game's first run. Queens, on the other hand, could not figure out Loeschorn until the bottom of the seventh inning when the game was already a two-run contest. In the last of the frame,
Louis Antos hit a lead-off triple to right-center for the Knights' second hit of the contest---Watters had the other one for Queens---but he was stranded at third as Loeschorn shut the door and gave the Pioneers the victory.
Queens will head to Brookville for a 3 p.m. contest with LIU Post on Monday (May 6) in the regular-season finale for both teams. The Knights need a victory and a Molloy win over Mercy to collect a spot in the upcoming East Coast Conference Tournament.
