FLUSHING, N.Y. – Continuing their four-game East Coast Conference series, the Queens College baseball team split Saturday's doubleheader, falling 7-4 in the opener before erupting for a 21-11 comeback victory in the nightcap.
Game One Recap – Queens 4, Staten Island 7
After three scoreless innings, the Dolphins broke through with three hits and capitalized on a Queens error to take a 3-0 lead.
Queens responded in the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore
Tommy Pasqua (Williston Park, N.Y.) led off with a one-out double to right center and moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt. Sophomore
Evan Paladino (Wantagh, N.Y.) followed with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Staten Island added two runs in the eighth, but the Knights answered in the bottom half.
Rookie
Joshua Angely (Upland, CA) was hit by a pitch to start the rally, and with two outs, junior
Michael Vilardi (Massapequa, N.Y.) delivered an RBI double. After another hit by pitch to junior
Paul Fiene (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y.), junior
Thomas McElwee (West Islip, N.Y.) drove in two with a double to center, pulling Queens within one, 5-4, heading into the ninth.
The Dolphins, however, added two insurance runs in the final frame and held off the Knights in the bottom of the ninth to secure the 7-4 win.
Game Two Recap – Queens 21, Staten Island 11
The nightcap turned into a high-scoring affair, as the teams combined for 32 runs on 28 hits and seven errors. All nine Knights recorded a hit, with seven driving in runs. Senior
Vincent Mallon (Massapequa, N.Y.) led the way, tying a season-high with five RBI.
Queens jumped out early, scoring seven runs over the first two innings on nine hits. Junior
Christian Aguilar (New York, N.Y.), sophomore
Peter Bounougias (Plainview, N.Y.), Mallon, and Angely accounted for the early production, giving the Knights a 7-0 advantage.
Staten Island responded with a nine-run surge across the third and fourth innings to take a 9-7 lead.
Queens quickly answered in the bottom of the fourth. Mallon was hit by a pitch, Vilardi doubled, and Aguilar brought home a run with a groundout. Angely followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 9-9.
After the Dolphins briefly regained the lead at 11-9 in the fifth, Queens delivered a decisive blow. The Knights sent 18 batters to the plate in the bottom of the inning, scoring 12 runs on nine hits, four walks, and a hit by pitch, marking their highest-scoring inning of the season to take a commanding 21-11 lead.
With the cushion, junior
Christopher Naronis (Floral Park, N.Y.) shut the door, tossing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts to earn his second win of the season.
Next Pitch
The Knights conclude their ECC series against the Dolphins on Sunday, April 19, with first pitch scheduled for noon.
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