NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – Wrapping up their four-game East Coast Conference series on Sunday, the Queens College baseball team earned a crucial split against D'Youville University at Sal Maglie Stadium.
The Knights fell just short in game one, 2-1, before responding with an 11-6 comeback victory in the nightcap. Seniors
Vincent Mallon (Massapequa, N.Y.), and
Thomas McElwee (West Islip, N.Y.) combined for six RBI, while junior
Michael Vilardi (Massapequa, N.Y.) and rookie
Dylan Vikara (Westbury, N.Y.) added four RBI in the win.
With the split, Queens secured its ninth ECC victory of the season with one conference series remaining.
Game One Recap – Queens 1, D'Youville 2
Game one featured a tight pitchers' duel, with both offenses held in check early. D'Youville broke through with two runs through five innings to take a 2-0 lead.
Queens mounted a late push in the seventh as Mallon led off with a single before Vilardi delivered an RBI double to left field to cut the deficit to 2-1. However, the Saints stranded the tying run at second, retiring the next three batters to hold on for the win.
Game Two Recap – Queens 11, D'Youville 6
D'Youville struck first in the nightcap, taking a 2-0 lead through three innings. Queens answered in the fourth when sophomore
Tommy Pasqua (Williston Park, N.Y.) singled and Mallon was hit by a pitch, setting up Vilardi for a two-RBI double to tie the game at 2-2.
The Saints quickly responded with two runs in the bottom half to regain the lead, 4-2, and later extended it to 5-3 on a wild pitch in the fifth.
Queens began to chip away, as junior
Niko Sorice (Rocky Point, N.Y.) doubled and later scored on an error in the sixth to make it 5-4.
The turning point came in the seventh. After loading the bases, McElwee delivered in a pinch-hit opportunity, ripping a bases-clearing three-RBI double to center field to give Queens a 7-5 lead.
From there, the Knights pulled away. In the eighth, Pasqua singled before Mallon launched his team-leading 11th home run of the season to left field, extending the lead to 9-5. The home run marks the most by a Knight in a single season since 1998.
Queens added two more runs on defensive miscues to take an 11-5 advantage.
In relief,
Johnny Dezago (Howard Beach, N.Y.) was dominant, retiring the Saints in order in both the sixth and eighth innings before closing out the game to earn his third win of the season.
Next Pitch
Queens returns to action on Thursday, April 30, opening its final ECC series of the season on the road against regionally ranked Mercy University in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
Currently sitting in fifth place, the Knights will need at least three wins and help elsewhere to secure a postseason berth.
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