UNIONDALE, N.Y. – In a game that started as a pitcher's duel quickly turned into an offensive barrage led by the Queens College baseball team as the Knights used two three-run innings in the sixth and eighth to advance to the East Coast Conference Final with a 6-3 victory over the #4 seed St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans in game 4 of the conference tournament.
With the win, the Knights improved to 26-15 while the Spartans concluded their season with an overall record of 23-22.
The Knights' offense tallied nine hits as junior
Jayson Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.) (2-4 AB, 2B, HR, 3RBI, 2R) stayed hot for the second game in a row while freshman
Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.) (1-4 AB, HR, 2RBI, R) tallied a multi-hit RBI performance with his tenth home run of the season. Six other Knights knocked in a hit.
On the mound, the trio of graduate student
Julien Arcos (Glenwood, N.Y.) (W, 6-2, 7.0 IP, 5H, 2R, BB, 7K), junior
Johnnie Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.)
(0.2 IP, H, ER, BB) and sophomore
Danny Gargano (S, 2, 1.1 IP, 2H) combined to limit the Spartans bats to eights while striking out seven in the victory.
It began as a pitcher's duel as both starters matched each other but the Spartans get a base runner in the bottom of the third and fifth while the Knights were sent down in order until the top of the sixth innings.
After the Spartans got the first out, sophomore
Reed Hoskins (Freeport, N.Y.) (1-3 AB, 2B, BB, R) knocked in the first hit for the Knights with a double through the left side. After the Spartans got the second out and looked to leave Hoskins stranded on second base, Rodopoulos had other ideas. The Scarsdale native would tally his fourth RBI of the tournament with a double down the left field line to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.
That lead would quickly balloon to 3-0 as ECC Player and & Rookie of the Year Cisco showed off his power with his tenth home run of the season as the Knights' bats had finally woken up.
Arcos pitching behind a lead would surrender three hits as the Spartans trimmed the lead down to 3-2 with three straight hits. But the graduate student would dig deep and get three straight outs including punching out the last batter.
The Knights would leave two runners on base in the top of the seventh as they were unable to give Arcos more breathing room.
After the Spartans opened the bottom of the seventh with a double to left center field, head coach
Chris Reardon made his appearance out of the dugout looking to signal the end of Arcos' day. But the Glenwood native would convince his coach and he would repay that decision with three straight outs including his seventh punchout of the day.
Pumped behind their starter, the Knights' tallied three more runs in the top of the eighth including a two-run shot off the bat of Jay Rodopoulos as Queens took a 6-2 lead.
John Rodopoulos and Gargano would deliver in relief as they got the last six outs to send the Knights to their first ECC final since the 1998 season.
UP NEXT: Head coach
Chris Reardon and the Knights will have to dethrone defending champions Molloy College Lions Saturday (May. 14) afternoon who advanced out of the loser bracket Friday afternoon in their 16-3 victory over the Spartans. The first pitch is set for noon.
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