FLUSHING, N.Y. – The Queens College baseball team opened their home schedule on Day 1 of the Knights Regional Invitational as they welcomed the Ravens of Franklin Pierce University to Hennekens Stadium.
It would be a tough loss for senior righty
Jordan Sanabria (Woodside, N.Y.) (L, 0-1 6.1 IP, 3H, 3ER, 5R, 3BB, 13K) who went pitch for pitch against the Ravens ace Kyle Roche through the first six innings with the Woodside native recording a career-high 13 strikeouts on the day in 109 pitches.
In a pitcher's duel both aces combined for six hits, seven runs, five walks, and 23 strikeouts on the day.
The Knights offense would be limited to three hits led by sophomore right fielder
Jorsixt Jimenez (Flushing, N.Y.) (1-of-4 AB, HR, 2RBI, R), junior second baseman
Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.) (1-3 AB, R, BB) and redshirt junior shortstop
Francis Segarra (Bronxville, N.Y.) (1-4 AB) with Jimenez driving in the two runs on his home run of the year.
But missed opportunities and fielding errors would hurt the Knights as they fell to the final score of 5-2 for the first loss of the year.
With the loss, the Knights move to 4-1 on the young season.
GAME RECAP
The Ravens opened the scoring as they took advantage of a one-out walk before a RBI double put the visitors up 1-0. Sanabria would retire the next two batters on back-to-back swinging strikeouts to leave the base runner stranded on second.
As Franklin Pierce got the first out to open the home half of the first inning, Cisco battled for six pitches before lacing the seventh pitch of the at-bat for a single to left center to get the Knights first base runner of the day.
After a failed picked-off attempt advanced Cisco to second base, Jimenez looking a 1-1 count blasted his first home run of the year to right center as Queens took a 2-1 lead.
After Sanabria retired the Ravens in order in the top of the second with three strikeouts, the Knights would leave two runners stranded on base before a Knights fielding error allowed the Ravens to tie the game in the top of the third.
With the game tied 2-2, both starting pitchers would match each other pitch for pitch to keep the offenses at bay over the next three innings.
After Sanabria worked out of a one-out walk to retire the next two batters in the top of the sixth, Queens would get the best opportunity to open the game up.
Cisco began the home half of the sixth with a five-pitch walk before a dropped fly and a single to left field from Segarra loaded the bases for Queens with no outs.
But in an Ace vs Ace battle, Roche would get the better of the Knights as he retired the next three in a row to keep the game tied at 2-2.
With Sanabria's pitch count nearing the century mark, the Ravens took advantage of a hit by pitch, single, double, and two fielding errors to break the tie as they scored three runs to take a 5-2 lead after the completion of the top of the seventh inning.
The Knights' offense would go down in order in their final nine at-bats to drop their first game of the year.
Next Pitch
The Knights continue the homestand on Day 2 of the Knights Regional Invitational against the Ravens on Saturday (Mar. 2) afternoon. First pitch is set for 10:30 a.m.
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