FLUSHING, N.Y. – Continuing their homestand, the Queens College baseball team welcomed the D'Youville University Saints for an East Coast Conference doubleheader Friday afternoon at Hennekens Stadium.
Across the two games, the Knights recorded 13 hits, including a double and a home run, while driving in six runs. Junior catcher
Thomas McElwee (West Islip, N.Y.) led the offense with three hits, two runs scored, and four RBIs. Senior right fielder
Vincent Mallon (Massapequa, N.Y.) added three hits and crossed the plate three times.
Game One Recap – Queens 6, D'Youville 4
Junior righty
Michael Vilardi (Massapequa, N.Y.) got the start and worked through early pressure before the Knights' offense went to work in the bottom of the first.
With two outs, Mallon drew a walk and Vilardi followed with a single to left. Both runners advanced on a passed ball before senior first baseman
Connor Waiting (Seaford, N.Y.) delivered an RBI to plate Mallon for a 1-0 lead.
Vilardi and the Queens defense kept the Saints in check over the next two innings, allowing the offense to build momentum in the third.
Rookie
Joshua Angely (Upland, CA) led off with a walk, and Mallon followed with a single to put two on with no outs. After two quick outs, senior
Nick Piazza (Queens, N.Y.) extended the inning with a single. Angely scored on a wild pitch, and McElwee followed with a two-RBI single to right. Sophomore
Tommy Pasqua (Williston Park, N.Y.) capped the rally with an RBI double, giving Queens a 5-0 advantage.
Vilardi struck out the side in the fourth after a leadoff single, but the Saints capitalized on defensive miscues in the fifth, scoring four runs to cut the lead to 5-4.
After five innings of work, Vilardi exited in line for the win, and junior righty
Peter Nenadich III (Bayside, N.Y.) entered in relief. Making his first relief appearance of the season, Nenadich III held the Saints scoreless the rest of the way.
McElwee provided a key insurance run in the eighth, launching a solo home run to left, his first of the season, to extend the lead to 6-4.
In the ninth, the Saints threatened with a leadoff double, but Nenadich III settled in and retired the next three batters to secure his first save of the year and a 6-4 Queens victory.
Game Two Recap – Queens 1, D'Youville 9
After three scoreless innings, the Saints broke through in the fourth, taking advantage of three hits and two errors to build a 4-0 lead.
Queens answered in the bottom half of the inning as McElwee drove in a run with an RBI single, but the Knights were unable to capitalize further, leaving two runners stranded.
D'Youville pulled away in the sixth, plating five runs to extend their lead and secure a 9-1 victory, earning a split of the Friday doubleheader.
Next Pitch
The Knights conclude the series Saturday afternoon with a non-conference doubleheader against the Saints. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
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