ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – Returning to East Coast Conference play, the Queens College baseball team
(19-6 overall, 4-1 ECC) traveled to Uniondale with a matchup against the Lions of Molloy University
(19-11 overall, 7-2) to Mitchel Field Thursday afternoon.
In a match-up between two NCBWA regional-ranked teams with the Knights coming into the week ranked eighth and the Lions ranked sixth, the Knights offense tallied 16 hits led by three-hit performances from freshman
Jorsixt Jimenez (Queens, N.Y.) (3-5 AB, 2B, 2RBI, 2R), senior
Reed Hoskins (Freeport, N.Y.) (3-4 AB, RBI, 2R, BB), and sophomore
Juan De La Rosa (Bronx, N.Y.) (3-5 AB, 2B, RBI) as the trio combined for four RBI.
While senior
Jayson Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.) (2-5 AB, 2 2B, RBI, 2R) and sophomore
Matt Filip (Maspeth, N.Y.) (2-4 AB, RBI, R, BB) combined for four hits and two RBI on the afternoon.
On the mound freshman
Christopher Naronis (Floral Park, N.Y) (W 3-2, 6.0 IP, 4H, 3ER, 2BB, 2K), senior
Johnnie Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.) (1.0 IP, H, 2ER, 2BB) and junior
Danny Gargano (Middle Island, N.Y.) (S 7, 2.0 IP, 2H, BB, 3K) combined to limit the Lions offense to seven hits, five earned runs with five strikeouts as Naronis earned his first conference win of the season and third overall, while Gargano pitched two shutout innings to earn his seventh save of the season as the Knights earned an 8-5 victory.
With the win, the Knights ended a nine-game losing streak to the Lions as they earned their first victory since the 2019 season when Queens earned a 4-1 victory at Mitchel Field on April 13, 2019 as they improved to 19-6 overall and 4-1 in ECC play on the season.
The Knights offense went to work right away as
Jay Rodopoulos opened the inning with a double down the left field line before sophomore
Marc Cisco (1-4 AB, R, BB) advanced the centerfield to third as the Lions got the first out.
Queens opened the scoring as junior
Francis Segarra (Bronxville, N.Y.) (1-3 AB, RBI, BB) delivered with a RBI grounder as the Knights gave their starter Naronis the early edge with a 1-0 lead.
Naronis wasted no time settling in as he worked a clean inning in nine pitches to end the bottom of the first.
Queens continued to keep their bats hot as Hoskins opened the top of the second with a single to center field before Jimenez put the Knights up 2-0 with a RBI double to left center field. Rosa would extend the scoring to 3-0 as Queens tacked their third straight hit and third double of the day as the sophomore scored the rookie Jimenez with a RBI double to right center field.
Naronis would go on to retire the first eight Lions batters before back-to-back singles gave Molloy two runners on base with two outs. But the Floral Park native would induce a grounder for the final out to first base in a 3-1 play to keep the Knights ahead 3-0 after three complete innings of play.
The Knights would begin the top of the fourth with three straight singles to load the bases as Hoskins singled to left field before Jimenez singled through the left side. A single to right field by Rosa would load the bases for Filip. Staring a 1-1 count, the Maspeth native delivered with a RBI single to right field as Hoskins scored from third.
As the Lions got the first out, Jay Rodopoulos would put the Knights up 5-0 with a RBI sac fly out to left field as Queens continued to give Naronis more breathing room.
After retiring the first two batters, a walk would extend the Lions' inning before Naronis induced the fifth batter of the inning to fly out to Jimenez in right field to end the home half of the fourth inning.
Queens would leave two runners stranded in the top of the fifth but Naronis would face the bare minimum despite a one-out single as he induced a double play to Segarra at shortstop for a 6-3 play to keep the Lions off the scoreboard for the fifth straight inning.
A one-out solo shot by the Lions would see Molloy get on the scoreboard after six complete innings of play as they cut the Knights advantage down to 5-1.
Queens would get the run back in the top of the seventh as the Knights tallied two hits while taking advantage of a fielding error as Jimenez tallied his second RBI of the day to put the Knights up 6-1 after the top of the seventh.
In the home half of the seventh, Naronis would see his day come to end as the Lions put two runners on base with no out as senior
Johnnie Rodopoulos relived the rookie.
The Scarsdale native would get the first two outs before the Lions worked two straight walks with the third walk of the inning cutting the Knights advantage down to 6-2. A RBI double from the seventh batter of the inning would clear the bases as Queens advantaged was cut down to 6-5.
But the righty stayed on course as he induced the final batter of the inning to pop up as Queens avoided further damage.
Looking to answer back right away, Filip opened the top of the eighth inning with a single to center field as the sophomore recorded his fourth multi-hit game of the season. The Lions would get the first out as junior
Nick Barreiros(Seaford, N.Y.) (1-5 AB) flew out on the center field warning track before
Jay Rodopoulos recorded his 12
th multi-hit game of the season and team-leading eighth double of the season as Filip advanced to third.
Cisco would be intentionally walked as Queens loaded the bases with one out. The Lions would get the second out before senior
Anthony Fontana (Wantagh, N.Y.) worked a four-pitch RBI walk to extend the Knights advantage to 7-5.
Hoskins would earn the second straight RBI walk of the inning on five pitches as Queens gave their bullpen more breathing room to work with as the Knights extended their lead to 8-5 after eight and a half innings of play.
Queens would turn to closer Gargano to finish out the game and the Middle Island native would work out of a lead-off single before the Knights got the first out at second base on a fielders choice out. He would end the eighth with back-to-back strikeouts.
In line for his seventh save of the year, Gargano would bend but not break despite the Lions opening the bottom of the inning with a double down the left field line. He would get the second batter to grounder to Rosa at third base before a walk put Lions runners on the corner.
Gargano would get the second out as he induced the fourth batter of the inning to pop up at shortstop before completing the save with his third strikeout of the day to give Queens an 8-5 game-one victory.
UP NEXT: Head coach
Chris Reardon and the Knights continue the four-game series as attention now shifts to Hennekens Stadium on Saturday (Apr. 8) afternoon as the Lions come to Flushing for a doubleheader. First pitch set for 12:00 p.m.
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