FLUSHING, N.Y. – Looking to conclude their four-game East Coast Conference series on a strong note, the Queens College baseball team welcomed the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College to Henneken Stadium for game four Sunday afternoon.
The Knights offense notched double digits for the fourth straight game of the ECC series against the Spartans with senior center fielder
Phillip Krpata (Farmingdale, N.Y.) (4-5 AB, 2RBI, 3R) recording his first four-hit game of the year, while duo of sophomore right fielder
Jorsixt Jimenez (Flushing, N.Y.) (2-4 AB, RBI, 2R, BB, SB) and junior first baseman
Matt Filip (Maspeth, N.Y.) (2-5 AB, RBI, R) recording multi-hit games as the trio combined for eight hits, four RBI, and six runs scored.
While junior third baseman
Robert Jacobsen (Temecula, CA) (1-4 AB, 2RBI, 2R), junior second baseman
Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.) (1-4 AB, 2B, 2RBI, R, 2BB), sophomore left fielder
Joey Patane (Commack, N.Y.) (1-4 AB, RBI, R), senior shortstop
Jaden Rivera (Queens Village, N.Y.) (1-4 AB, 2B, RBI, R, BB), freshman
Michael Vilardi (Massapequa, N.Y.) (1-4 AB, RBI, R) and senior catcher
Nick Barreiros (Seaford, N.Y.) (1-3 AB, R) combining for six hits, seven RBI, and seven runs scored as all starting players combined for 14 hits in the game.
On the mound, Vilardi
(W, 5-1 7.0 IP, 6H, ER, 9K) would limit the Spartan to six hits with an earned run and a career-high nine strikeouts to earn his team-leading fifth victory of the year before junior righty
Evan Christopher (North Babylon, N.Y.) (1.0 IP, H, 2K) and sophomore righty
John Keane (Wading River, N.Y) (1.0 IP, 2H, ER, 2K) closed out the game as Queens completed the series sweep with a 13-2 victory.
With the victory, the Knights improved to 24-14 overall and 14-6 in ECC play as Queens clinched their fourth ECC series of the year and first ECC sweep of the year. Queens earned their first sweep over the Spartans for the first time since the 2003 season and just third overall in program history.
GAME FOUR RECAP (QUEENS 13, STAC 2)
Vilardi opened the game striking out the Spartans in order before his offense went to work in the home half of the first.
Krpata and Jacobsen would reach base on back-to-back fielding errors from the Spartans before a single through the left side from Jimenez loaded the bases.
Queens would open the scoring as Krpata scored on a wild pitch before Cisco battled for a seven-pitch walk to reload the bases. Next batter Patane wasted no time looking at any pitches as he laced a RBI single to left field to score Jacobsen as Queens took a 2-0 lead. Filip would put the Knights up 3-0 with a RBI single through the left side before Rivera earned a RBI walk for a 4-0 lead.
Vilardi would help his own cause with a RBI single through the left side as the Knights took a 5-0 lead. The Spartans would finally get the first out as Queens had successfully batted around in just the first inning of play.
Batting for the second time in the inning Krpata laced a two-RBI single to right field as Queens took a 7-0 lead. Next batter Jacobsen would put the Knights up 8-0 with a RBI grounder to second base before Jimenez notched his second hit of the inning with a RBI single up the middle as Queens took a commanding lead of 9-0. Queens would send 13 batters to the plate before the Spartans were able to retire the Knights to end the first inning of play.
Vilardi would retire the first two batters to open the second inning before a single to right field extended the inning, but the rookie would retire the next batter inducing a fly out to Krpata to center field.
Queens extended their lead to 10-0 in the bottom of the third as Barreiros began the inning with a single to left center before Krpata notched his second hit of the afternoon to left field but a fielding error would allow both runners to advance into scoring position. Jacobsen would record his second RBI of the afternoon to score Barreiros as Queens notched a double-digit advantage in the third inning of play.
With one out in the top of the fourth, Vilardi would run into his first trouble of his outing as the Spartans notched a double before a RBI single cut the Knights advantage down to 10-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Knights would add three more runs as they rallied with two outs. Queens would load the bases as Krpata and Jacobsen singled before Jimenez earned a walk. For the second time on the afternoon, Krpata would score on a wild pitch before Cisco cleared the bases with a two-RBI double to left center as Queens took a commanding lead of 13-1 after five complete innings of play.
Just for the second time in the afternoon, Vilardi would run into trouble as the Spartans threatened to cut into the Knights lead. As the rookie retired the first batter inducing a grounder to Jacobsen, a single to the shortstop would give the Spartans a base runner. But the rookie would notch his eighth strikeout of the day before the second single of the inning had two runners on for the visitors. But the Massapequa native would record his career-best ninth strikeout to end the top of the sixth as he left both Spartans stranded on base to keep the 13-1 lead intact.
Vilardi would work a clean top of the seventh as the rookie matched a career-best seven complete innings of work to go with a career-best nine strikeouts to earn his fifth victory of the year.
The duo of Christopher and Keane would close out the final two innings of the game as Queens completed the series sweep and extended their win streak to a season-best seven games.
Next Pitch
Queens returns to non-conference play on Tuesday (Apr. 21) afternoon as they welcome the Panthers of Adelphi University to town. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
For the latest news on Queens College Athletics, follow the Knights at queensknights.com or via social media on Facebook (Queens College Athletics), X (Formerly Twitter) (@QCKnights), Queens College Baseball (@QC_Baseball) and Instagram (qcknightsny), QC Baseball (qcbaseball)
