Richard Anderson, among the NCAA leaders in complete games, added his fifth in victory this afternoon
The College of Staten Island men’s baseball squad ran their modest win streak up to three games, swiping a two-game conference set with CUNYAC-rival John Jay College at the CSI Baseball Complex earlier this afternoon. The Dolphins took the opener, 8-3, before advancing to a 4-2 win in game two. The Dolphins advanced to 14-9 overall and 6-2 in CUNYAC play, while JJC fell to 2-15, 1-6, respectively.
In the opener, CSI stormed back from a 3-1 deficit, scoring six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to ride an 8-3 win. CSI actually had an early 1-0 lead, plating a first inning run off of JJC starter Braylin Perez on a solo homerun by junior Chris Ramanauskas. From there, however, Perez settled into a groove, and the Bloodhounds scored single runs in the next three innings off of CSI starter Richard Anderson. A Steve Donato RBI sac fly knotted the game in the second inning at 1-1, and in the third JJC took a 2-1 lead on a Dennis Lopez RBI single, scoring Luca Altamirano.
But CSI erupted for a six-run, six-hit inning in their half of the fourth. A Joseph Cespuglia two-RBI triple did the damage to start, tying the game at 3-3. One batter later, CSI took the lead on a James Lewis bunt single, scoring Cespuglia. Bryan Moreno and Ramanauskas then added RBI base hits to accentuate the lead at 7-3 before the inning was through. The Dolphins got an insurance tally in the fifth inning that came in via an error, and it was more than Anderson needed, as the senior retired seven out of the last eight JJC batter to score the complete game seven-hitter.
Anderson struck out four in the win, while Perez went the distance in defeat, allowing seven CSI hits, two by Ramanauskas, who had the only multi-hit game for CSI.
In the second contest, again CSI needed to come back. This time the Bloodhounds took a 2-0 lead after just one-half inning, as the Dolphins posted two errors in the inning accounting for both runs off of CSI starter Michael Fitzpatrick. CSI cut the lead in half in their turn of the first, when Cespuglia drew a bases-loaded walk against JJC starter Chris Cracchiolo. Fitzpatrick got through JJC batters in the second and third without much fanfare, and then CSI completed the comeback and got all the offense they would need in their turn of the third inning.
A Robert Bernardo RBI-double would plate Will DiFede, tying the score with two outs in the frame. Then, CSI took a 3-2 lead when Cespuglia singled in Bernardo. James Lewis then played Cespuglia, after he took second via a passed ball. JJC then gave the ball to Trevor Johnson, who got the Bloodhounds out of the jam and then proceeded to retire the Dolphins in the inning and allowing just one CSI hit the rest of the way. It didn’t matter much, however, as Fitzpatrick was overwhelming for the Dolphins, Allowing only one JJC hit over the last four inning to score the complete game win, fanning five and walking two.
CSI and John Jay will finish a three-game set tomorrow afternoon at 12 Noon for a single, nine-inning game at the CSI Baseball Complex. Unlike today’s doubleheader, however, the game will not count towards the CUNYAC standings.
