FLUSHING, N.Y. – East Coast Conference play officially got going on Friday afternoon as the Queens College baseball team welcomed the College of Staten Island Dolphins to Hennekens Stadium for game one of the four-game series.
Prior to the first pitch, CUNY Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer
Hector Batista threw out the ceremonial first pitch. In attendance were Queens College President
Frank Wu and College of Staten Island President
Timothy G Lynch, Queens College Vice President for Communications and Marketing and Senior Advisor to the President
Jay Hershenson, and Queens College Director of Athletics and Recreation
Robert Twible.
Playing under sunny and slightly chilly conditions, the Knights offense would erupt for 13 hits with four players knocking in multi-hit performances led by graduate student left fielder
Penn Sealey (Raleigh, N.C.) (3-4 AB, 2B, 2RBI, BB, R), senior second baseman
Robert Jacobsen (Temecula, Calif.) (3-5 AB, 2B, RBI, 2R), senior first baseman
Matt Filip (Maspeth, N.Y.) (2-5 AB, 3RBI), and sophomore right fielder
Michael Vilardi (Massapequa, N.Y.) (2-4 AB, RBI, BB, R) combining for 10 hits, two doubles, seven RBI, two walks and four runs scored.
While the trio of senior left fielder
Leo Alvarez (Oceanside, N.Y.) (1-5 AB, RBI, R), senior center fielder
Nick O'Conner (Wantagh, N.Y.) (1-4 AB, BB, 3R), and rookie third baseman
Tommy Pasqua (Williston Park, N.Y.) (1-5 AB) combined for three hits, one RBI and four runs scored.
On the mound senior righty
Caleb Cassie (Vancouver, British Columbia) (ND, 2.1 IP, H, 2ER, 4BB, 2K) and senior lefty
Nate Rodriguez (Hamilton, N.J.) (W, 1-1, 6.2 IP, ER, 5BB, 6K) would combine to hold the Dolphins offense to one hit, three earned runs and eight strikeouts to earn the 9-3 victory and open ECC play on a winning note.
GAME RECAP
Cassie earned the ECC opener start on the mound and would retire the Dolphins in order to begin the game before his offense went to work right away.
O'Conner would reach first base on a fielding error by the first baseman before Vilardi recorded a single through the right side as Queens had two runners on and out.
But the Dolphins would get back-to-back outs but not before a fielder's choice put O'Conner on third and Filip safe at first base.
With Sealey the fifth batter to come to the plate, Queens would open the scoring as the graduate student delivered with a RBI single to center field to score O'Conner as the Knights took a 1-0 lead into the second inning.
Cassie would retire his fourth batter in a row before the Dolphins earned a walk. But the righty would retire the next two batters in a row with a strikeout and a grounder to Jacobsen to end the second frame.
In the home half of the second frame, Pasqua would single up the middle before he was caught stealing second base on a failed pick-off attempt. However, the Knights would quickly get another runner on base as senior catcher
Thomas Napolitano Jr. (Scottsdale, Ariz.) got hit by pitch.
But as the Dolphins got the second out of the inning, the Knights' top of the order would deliver as O'Conner earned a walk before Vilardi put the home side up 2-0 with a RBI single through the left scoring Napolitano Jr. before Jacobsen wasted no time looking at pitches as he laced a RBI single through the right side as Queens took a 3-0 lead after two complete innings of play.
The Dolphins would cut Queens' advantage down to 3-2 with a two-run shot over right field. But with one out and the advantage cut down to 3-2, Cassie would walk the next two batters as the Dolphins threatened. Queens would turn to Rodriguez out of the bullpen and the lefty would deliver retiring the next two batters in a row to end the frame and leave both runners stranded on base.
Looking to get the runs back, the Knights would threaten as they put two runners on but the Dolphins would avoid any damage to end the third inning of play.
Rodriguez would retire the Dolphins in order in the top of the fourth using nine pitches before Queens added two insurance runs in the home frame.
With one out, Vilardi earned a four-pitch walk before a single to right field from Jacobsen brought up Filip for his third at-bat of the afternoon.
Playing in his 157
th career game and having tied the program record of 129 RBI against Felician Sunday afternoon, Filip would break the RBI record as he laced a shot out to right field scoring Vilardi from second base to put Queens up 4-2 giving the Maspeth native his 130 career RBI in program history.
Sealey would extend Queens' advantage to 5-2 with a grounder to shortstop as Jacobsen scored.
Having taken a three-run cushion, the Dolphins would attempt to cut into the Knights lead in the top of the fifth.
The Dolphins would earn back-to-back walks before the lefty got the third batter of the inning to fly out to Alvarez in left field. A fielder choice's play at second base would load the bases before Rodriguez got a key strikeout for the second out. Despite keeping the Dolphins hitless in the frame, the third walk of the inning would see the Dolphins walk in their third run of the game before the senior got out of the inning inducing the seventh batter of the inning to ground out to Pasqua at third base to end the top of the fifth and keep a 5-3 lead intact.
As the Knights were kept off the bases in the fifth and sixth innings of the game, Rodriguez would continue to deliver as he faced the minimum in the top of the sixth and seventh as the Knights continued to hold onto a 5-3 advantage.
Queens would tack on two insurance runs in the seventh as Alvarez brought home Sealey with a RBI single before Alvarez scored the seventh run of the game behind a fielding error.
Behind another clean inning from Rodriguez in the top of the eighth, Queens would put the game out of reach in the home frame of the eighth.
O'Conner opened the frame with a single to second base before stealing second base. But as the Dolphins got the first out of the inning, Jacobsen laced a double out to right field as Queens had runners in scoring position.
Having broken the RBI record, Filip began his journey to add cushion to his career record as he tacked in two more to record his team-leading seventh multi-RBI game of the season with a two-RBI single up the middle as Queens took a commanding lead of 9-3 after the completion of the eighth inning.
In rhythm, the southpaw Rodriguez in line for his first win of the year would return to close out the game. The senior opened the frame by recording a career-tying sixth punchout of the afternoon and retiring his eighth straight batter in a row. A walk would extend the inning before he induced a fielder's choice to Jacobsen for the second out before officially closing out the game on his 105
th pitch with a grounder to Jacobsen as the Knights opened ECC play on a winning note with a 9-3 victory.
NEXT PITCH
Attention now shifts to CSI Baseball Complex in Staten Island, N.Y. for a Saturday afternoon doubleheader. The first pitch of the doubleheader is set for noon.
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