GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Continuing non-conference play before opening East Coast Conference action, the Queens College baseball team
(11-4 overall) used early offense before defense put forth stellar plays to defeat the Panthers of Adelphi University
(8-10 overall) Tuesday afternoon at Bonomo Memorial Field.
The Knights broke out the bats for 12 hits led by a career-day performance from rookie
Jorsixt Jimenez (Queens, N.Y.) (3-5 AB, 2RBI, SB) who tallied his first career three-hit performance of his young career. The trio of sophomore
Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.) (2-5 AB, 2R), senior
Jayson Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.) (2-5 AB), and junior
Nick Barreiros (Seaford, N.Y.) (2-4 AB, 2B, R) recorded multi-hits, while senior
Anthony Fontana (Wantagh, N.Y.) (1-5 AB, RBI, R, BB), senior
Reed Hoskins (Freeport, N.Y.) (1-3 AB, RBI, BB) and sophomore
Juan De La Rosa (Bronx, N.Y.) (1-1 AB, SB) added a hit apiece on the afternoon.
On the mound,
Dante Interlandi (Massapequa, N.Y.) (3.1 IP, H, 3BB, 2K), junior
Jordan Sanabria (Woodside, N.Y.) (W 3-1, 4.2 IP, 4H, ER, 4BB, 4K) and
Danny Gargano (Middle Island, N.Y.) (S5, 1.0 IP, H, K) led the way with Sanabria earning his team-leading third victory of the season and Gargano earned his fifth save of the year.
With the win Tuesday afternoon, Queens ended a one-game losing streak to the Panthers and earned their first victory over their non-conference foe for the first time since the 2017 season.
Queens opened the scoring in the top of the first inning as Cisco singled to right center before advancing to second on a wild pitch. After the Panthers got the second out, a RBI single up the middle from Fontana would allow Cisco to score as the Knights took a 1-0 lead.
With two outs, Hoskins extended the inning with a single to right field as Fontana advanced to second before Jimenez doubled the Knights' advantage with a RBI single up the middle as Queens gave their starter a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first inning.
After Interlandi got the first batter to ground out to junior
Francis Segarra (Bronxville, N.Y.) at shortstop, a single to left field gave the Panthers their first runner of the game. But the lefty would induce a liner to Cisco for the second out before ending the inning with a fly out to left field.
As the Knights left two base runners stranded in the top of the second and third, the infield would pick up the offense as the Knights used two double plays to keep the Panthers at bay.
In the top of the fourth, with one out, Barreiros doubled to left field before scoring on Rodopoulos's single to left center as Queens took a 3-0 lead.
Heading into the bottom of the fourth, Interlandi would walk his third batter of the day before he got the next batter to fly out to left center field for the first out. With one out, Interlandi would be relieved by Sanabria who would induce a grounder as the Knights turned their third straight double play to end the inning.
As the Panthers continued to get base runners, Queens' defense would continue to erase them as the defense executed their fourth double of the day to keep the Panthers' offense quiet after five complete innings of play.
Having faced the bare minimum of three batters for four straight innings, the Panthers would begin the bottom of the sixth with a single right down the right field line before Sanabria struck out the next batter for the first out.
A wild pitch would erase the Knights' chance for a fifth double play as the Panthers had their first base runner in scoring position for the first time. But Sanabria would strike out the next batter before another wild pitch saw the Panthers get a runner on third. A single to center field would end the shutout before the righty got the fifth batter of the inning to ground out to Cisco but the Knights' lead would be cut down to 3-1.
Having their lead cut down to 3-1 to begin the top of the seventh, Cisco recorded his fourth overall multi-hit game of the season with a single down the right field line before Segarra earned a walk to give Queens runners on first and second.
Fontana would ground out to first base but he would advance both runners into scoring position. With runners in scoring position, the outfield duo of Hoskins and Jimenez would extend the visitors' lead to 5-1 as the Freeport native put Queens up 4-1 with a Sac Fly out to left field before the rookie Jimenez added his third hit of the afternoon with a RBI single to center field to extend the lead to 5-1.
Working with a 5-1 lead, Sanabria would have to battle in the bottom of the seventh as he walked the first two batters he faced. The Woodside native would get back-to-back outs with a grounder to first before striking out the next batter.
But his third walk of the inning would load the bases for the Panthers before Sanabria worked out of a 3-1 count to get the last out to Segarra and get Queens out of the inning.
Leading 5-1 in the top of the eighth, Queens looked dangerous to break the game open as they loaded the bases with only out, but the Panthers' defense would avoid any further damage as they ended the inning with their own double play to keep the score at 5-1.
The bottom of the eighth would officially add drama to the game as the Panthers started to get the hits that had eluded them. A single up the middle began the eighth before a rare fielding error which would have given Queens their potential fifth double play of the afternoon saw the Panthers get runners on first and second.
Sanabria would get back-to-back Panthers batters to fly out to Jimenez in right field and looked to be getting out of the inning with no damage. But facing the fifth batter of the inning, he would leave a pitch too high before the wind carried the ball over left center field for a three-run home run as the home side cut the Knights' lead down to 5-4.
The third hit of the inning would continue the at-bats for the Panthers as they now had the tying run on first base.
For the first time on the season, a pitching clock violation would be called on Queens as Sanabria began the seventh batter of the inning behind the count. But he would get ahead 1-2 before back-to-back balls saw the count go to 3-2.
Having to dig deep, Sanabria would find the location he was looking as he got the batter on a looking strikeout to ensure Queens stayed head 5-4 and give way to his closer Gargano to seal the win.
Leading 5-4 and looking for their sixth straight win, the Knights turned to Gargano. The Middle Island native would not disappoint as he got the first two batters out on a strikeout before getting the second to fly out to Rodopoulos in center field.
A single would extend the inning as the Panthers looked to complete a comeback rally. But on a day where Jimenez had a career day at the plate, it was only fitting that the last out flew out to the rookie in right field to end the game as Gargano induced the fourth Panthers batter of the inning to fly out to Jimenez as the righty earned his fifth save of the season and give Queens their sixth straight victory of the season.
UP NEXT: Head coach
Chris Reardon and the Knights now open East Coast Conference play in a four-game series beginning on Friday (Mar. 24) afternoon as the Dolphins of College of Staten Island come to Flushing. First pitch set for 3:00 p.m.
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