UNIONDALE, N.Y. – East Coast Conference Postseason play began Thursday afternoon as the #2 seed Queens College baseball team matched up against #3 seed Mercy College Mavericks at Mitchel Field.
The Knights shook off early nerves as they rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Mavericks 4-3 to advance into the winners' bracket Friday afternoon. Thursday's win is the first win in postseason play since the 1998 season and the first under head coach
Chris Reardon as the Knights picked up their first victory in their fifth game since returning to conference postseason in three seasons ago.
With the win, the Knights improved to 25-15 overall, while the Mavericks moved to 21-24-1 on the season.
The Knights' offense tallied nine hits led by multi-hit performances from
Jayson Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.) (3-4 AB, HR, 2RBI, R) and freshman
Juan De La Rosa (Santo Domingo, D.R.) (2-4 AB, HR, RBI, R), while four other played knocked in a hit.
On the mound, senior
Rob Backus (Merrick, N.Y.) (
W, 4-2, 7.0 IP, 6H, 3ER, BB, 5K) and senior
Dylan Hughes (Merrick, N.Y.) (S, 4, 2.0 IP, 2K) combined to limit the Mavericks offense to six hits as they struck out seven batters.
Backus earned his first postseason start of his career and quickly went to work as he opened the game with a punchout. He would retire the next two batters to work a clean inning to bring the Knights up to bat.
In the home half of the first, Rodopoulos opened the inning with a single through the ride before freshman
Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.) (1-3 AB, BB) knocked in a single to third base as Queens looked to get the scoring started early. With no out, a balk would advance both runners into scoring position, but the Mavericks' defense would work out of trouble to keep the game scoreless.
Backus would work his second straight clean inning but Mercy would respond with the same as both starters put up zeros to start the game.
It would be the visitors on the scoreboard who opened the scoring as they tallied Backus for three hits to take a 2-0 lead in the top half of the third.
The Knights' offense wasted no time replying as Rodopoulos tallied his second hit of the afternoon with a solo shot to left field for his fourth home run of the season to bring the Knights within one, 2-1. After the Mavericks got the second out, senior
Louis Antos (West Islip, N.Y) (1-4 AB, R) laced a single into center field before freshman
Matt Filip (1-4 AB, 2B, RBI) blasted his team-leading 15
th double of the season to score Antos from third as Queens tied the game 2-2.
Back to a tied game, Backus would work his third clean inning of the day in the top of the fourth. Having shaken off the nerve, Queens tallied back-to-back singles as Rosa and sophomore
Colin Diez (Levittown, N.Y.) (1-4 AB, R) began the bottom of the fourth on the right note.
After the Mavericks got the next two outs, Rodopoulos tallied his third hit of the afternoon to give the Knights a 3-2 as the Scarsdale native delivered with a RBI single to right field to score Diez.
In the top of the fifth, the Mavericks would get their first hit since the third inning but Backus would once again face the bare minimum as he struck out the next batter before a double play ended the inning.
Leading 3-2, Rosa blasted his seventh home run of the season to put the Knights 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth to give his ace more breathing room.
The Mavericks would cut the deficit down to 4-3 on two hits but Backus would leave the tying run stranded on second with his fourth punchout of the game.
Backus returned for the seventh and retired the first batter with a grounder to Rosa before the senior issued his walk of the afternoon. With the tying run on first, the Merrick native unfazed would turn a double play for a 1-6-3 play to end the inning as the Knights stayed ahead with a 4-3 lead.
Reardon and the Knights turned to Hughes to close out the game and the Merrick would deliver in relief with his fourth save of the season. Hughes would keep the Mavericks hitless in two innings of relief including striking out the last two batters to send the Knights into Friday's winners' bracket with a 4-3 win.
UP NEXT: Head coach
Chris Reardon and the Knights now shift their attention to Friday's (May. 13) afternoon game two as they face the #4 seed St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans at Mitchel Field. The Spartans upset the regular season champions and 2021 Champions Molloy College Lions with a 3-2 victory. The first pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.
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