LEWISTON, N.Y. – Playing in rainy, chilly conditions at Bobo Field, the Queens College baseball team withstood two rallies from the Saints of D'Youville University Saturday afternoon in East Coast Conference play.
Trailing 5-4 after six innings, the Knights rallied back to outscore the Saints 4-1 to take game one 8-6 before junior
Liam Pulsipher (East Moriches, N.Y.) shut the door in back-to-back games as Queens completed the series sweep with a game two final score of 5-4.
With the wins, the Knights improved to 8-8 overall, 3-0 in ECC, while the Saints moved to 6-9 overall, 0-3 in conference action.
In game one Queens tallied nine hits held by senior
Louis Antos (West Islip, N.Y) (2-5 AB, HR, R, 3RBI, BB) and freshman
Matt Filip (Maspeth, N.Y.) (2-2 AB, 2B, R, 2RBI) multi-hit performances.
After the Knights left two runners on base to open the game, it was the Saints who struck first taking a 1-0 lead after one complete inning of play.
But the Knights would respond in the top half of the third inning as junior
Jayson Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.) (1-5 AB, 2B, R, BB) opened the inning with a double to left-center. After the Saints got the first out, Antos rocketed a two-run blast to left field for his second home run of the season giving Queens a 2-1 lead.
However, the Saints would tie the game in the bottom half of the fourth inning as they scored on a wild pitch.
Not to be outdone, Queens responded in the sixth frame as they took advantage of a wild pitch to take a 3-2 lead before Antos earned a walk to double the Knights' advantage to 4-2.
But the Saints responded in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit down to 3-2 on back-to-back hits before the home side capitalized on a throwing error by the Knights shortstop to score two runs taking a 5-4 lead.
With two outs, sophomore
Nick Barreiros (Seaford, N.Y.) drew a walk before Filip made his first appearance of the day in a pinch-hit situation and he quickly awarded the Knights coaching staff with a double to center field to score Barreiros from first to tie the game 5-5. Filip would score on a wild pitch as Queens took a 6-5 lead after seven complete innings of play.
Pulsipher made his first appearance out of the bullpen on the season and worked a quick 1-2-3 seventh inning.
The Knights' offense would tack on two insurance runs in the eighth frame to give Pulsipher more breathing room. D'Youville cut Queens' advantage down to 8-6 as they tallied two hits to score their sixth run of the game in the bottom of the eighth but Pulsipher
(S1, 3.0 IP, 2H, ER, 3K) would earn his first save of the season as he worked his second 1-2-3 inning of the game to give Queens their second ECC win of the season.
Game two was another tight affair but once again it was the trio of Antos, Filip, and Pulsipher who starred for the second game in a row.
The Knights tallied seven hits in the final game of the series led by Antos
(2-2 AB, 2B, HR, 2R, 2RBI, 2BB), Filip
(2-4 AB, 2B, 2RBI), and freshman
Juan De La Rosa (Dominican Republic) (2-3 AB, R) knocking in multi-hit to lead the offense.
After three scoreless innings of a seven-inning game which saw a combined total of 10 runners left on base from both teams, it was the Knights who opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning.
After the Saints got the first two outs, sophomore
Brad Sakellarides (East Moriches, N.Y.) (1-3 AB, 3B, R, BB) tripled to center field before scoring a throwing error as the Saints were unable to get the final out giving the Knights a 1-0 lead.
After game two starter
Dylan Hughes (Merrick, N.Y.) (W 1-1, 4.2 IP, 5H, 2BB, 4K) shut out the Saints in the fourth inning, Antos opened the top of the fifth inning with his second home run of the day with a solo shot to left field giving Queens a 2-0 lead.
The Knights would add three insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 5-0 lead on three hits with back-to-back doubles coming off the bats of Antos and Filip.
But the Saints refused to go away and looked to keep the game going as they tallied four hits to cut the Knights advantage down to 5-4 before Pulsipher made his second appearance of the day out of the bullpen.
With two outs and runners on second and first, Pulsipher would end the inning with a punch-out keeping a 5-4 lead intact. The East Moriches native return in the bottom of the seventh looking to earn his second save of the day. Pulsipher
(S2, 1.1 IP, 2K) shut the door for the second consecutive game against the Saints as he worked his third 1-2-3 inning of the day as Queens clinched their first ECC series of the season with a 5-4 win.
Notable: For the first time since the 1998 season, Queens opens conference play with a 3-0 record when they defeated Adelphi to open the season 3-0.
UP NEXT: Head coach
Chris Reardon and the Knights return to non-conference action Tuesday (Mar. 29) afternoon as they travel to Garden City, N.Y. with a single nine-inning game against Adelphi University Panthers. The first pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.
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