CALDWELL, N.J. – Opening the week in non-conference play on the road, the Queens College baseball team traveled to the Garden State of New Jersey with a matchup against the Cougars of Caldwell University at Kiwanis Oval Tuesday afternoon.
The Knights offense outhit the home side 10-8 led by junior third baseman
Robert Jacobsen (Temecula, CA) (3-5 AB, 2B, R) team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the year, sophomore right fielder
Jorsixt Jimenez (Flushing, N.Y) (2-4 AB, 2 2B, 2R, 2SB) seventh multi-hit game and graduate student center fielder
Phillip Krpata (Farmingdale, N.Y.) (2-5 AB, 2B, 2B, 2RBI) fourth multi-hit game of the year.
While the trio of junior first baseman
Matt Filip (Maspeth, N.Y) (1-5 AB, 2RBI), junior catcher
Thomas Napolitano Jr. (Scottsdale, AZ.) (1-4 AB, R), and freshman second baseman
Adam Gonzalez (Commack, N.Y.) (1-1 AB, RBI, BB) combined for three hits.
Krpata, Filip, Gonzalez, and junior third baseman
Elquin Rodriguez (Washington Heights, N.Y.) (0-2 AB, RBI, R, 2BB) combined for six RBI with Krpata recording his third multi-RBI game of the year and Filip notching his first of the year.
On the mound five Knights would hurl their arms with freshman lefty
Vinay Patel (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) (4.0 IP, 3H, ER, 2BB, 3K) earning his first career start, sophomore righty
Ben Nosovitch (Carle Place, N.Y.) (1.0 IP, BB, 2K), Junior righty
Nick Kozerski (Hicksville, N.Y.) (W, 2-0 2.0 IP, 4H, 2ER, BB, 3K), junior lefty
Nate Rodriguez (Hamilton, N.J.) (1.0 IP), and junior righty
Evan Christopher (North Babylon, N.Y.) (S 1 1.0 IP, H) combined to limit the Cougars to eight hit, three earned runs, four walks and eight strikeouts as Kozerski earned his second win of the year and Christopher earning his save of the year.
With the win, the Knights improved their overall record to 9-7 on the year.
GAME RECAP (QUEENS 6, CALDWELL 3)
The Knights wasted no time opening the scoring as with one out, Jimenez notched a double to center field before stealing third base. As the Cougars got the second out, Filip opened the scoring for Queens with a RBI single to center field to score Jimenez from third.
Having earned his first career start Patel worked a clean first inning with two strikeouts and a ground out to third base to end the inning.
In the top of the second, the Knights would leave two runners stranded before Patel worked out of a two-out double to keep his team ahead to the score of 1-0.
Jimenez opened the top of the third with his second double of the game with a shot down the left field line, but as the Cougars got the first out, the sophomore would steal third for the second time on the day. With one out, Filip would double the Knights advantage with his second RBI of the day as Queens took a 2-0 lead after the completion of the top of the third.
The Cougars would get a run back in the home half of the third using a walk and single to their advantage as they cut the Knights advantage down to 2-1. But Patel and his defense would leave two runners stranded to keep their lead intact.
In the home half of the fourth, a walk and fielding error would give the Cougars two base runners with no out but the Knights defense would turn a double play before Patel got the fourth batter of the inning to ground to third base to end the inning.
Holding a 2-1 lead Queens would leave a base runner stranded in the top of the sixth and two runners stranded as they were unable to build upon their lead.
In the home half of the seventh, the Cougars opened the inning with a single to left field and a walk to put two runners on and no out.
But the Knights would get the first out as Kozerski executed a successful pickoff to get the runner at second for the first out, but back-to-back hits would tie the game at 2-2. With runners on the corner Queens would get the second out as Napolitano Jr. caught the runner stealing second but it would allow the Cougars enough space to score as they took a 3-2 lead before Kozerski got the last batter to strikeout to end the inning.
Trailing 3-2, the Knights would rally as they sent nine batters to the plate. The Cougars opened the eighth getting Filip to pop up to first base before Jacobsen recorded his second hit of the day, not before a hit by pitch and walk loaded the bases for Queens. With one out, Elquin would work a RBI walk to tie the game at 2-2 before Gonzalez recorded his career hit and RBI as he put the Knights up 4-3 with a RBI single to center field to score Napolitano Jr. from third base.
Next batter Krapata would battle before lacing a two-RBI single to right center as Queens extended their advantage to 6-3.
Coming into relief pitch in the bottom of the eighth lefty
Nate Rodriguez (Hamilton, N.J.) needed only four pitches to retire the Cougars in order as he got the first batter to fly out to Krpata in center field, before getting the next batter to ground out to Gonzalez at second and the last batter to ground out back to him to end the inning.
Entering the bottom of the ninth leading 6-3, Christopher would close out the game to earn his first save of the year and third of his career as Queens earned a 6-3 comeback victory over the Cougars Tuesday afternoon.
Next Pitch
The Knights open East Coast Conference play in Flushing on Friday (Mar. 22) afternoon as they welcome the Lions of Lincoln University to town. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
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