After a long day of baseball, the College of Staten Island baseball squad is still alive in the hunt for a championship, but it is certainly far from being decided. In games played at MCU Ballpark today in Brooklyn, NY, CSI first lost a winner’s bracket game to Baruch College, 3-0, and then came-from-behind to tie City College of New York in the second elimination game in the seventh-inning, 3-3, before play was suspended in the bottom of the eighth due to intense fog on the field.  Play will resume tomorrow at 2:30pm at MCU, where the Dolphins will be up to bat with runners at first and third base with one out.

Before the marathon match with CCNY in the nightcap, CSI was locked in a pitcher’s duel with the Bearcats to kick off play at 1pm at MCU.   Baruch got all the runs they needed in the first three innings, and rode the arm of Cameron Kitt the rest of the way, as Baruch was able to post the shutout win.  An error for CSI in the top of the second inning allowed the inning to continue, and the Bearcats made CSI pay when Daley doubled in two runs off of CSI starter Ryan Kennedy to make it 2-0.

BC added an insurance marker in the third, and it proved more than enough for Kitt, who tossed a four-hit complete-game shutout, fanning four.  Lack of hitting proved to be the downfall of CSI, as the Dolphins had runners on base in all but one inning, but could not work up the momentum.  CSI’s Jason Failla was sterling in relief, tossing 6.1 innings of shutout baseball, but it wasn’t enough.

In the nightcap, CSI was locked in another tight affair.  This time it was CSI that got off to an early lead, going up 1-0 in the first thanks to a Frank Muzzio RBI-groundout that scored Eli Rodriguez, who led off with a double.  CCNY Tied things up an inning later, as CSI starter Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a pair of wild pitches that brought in a run.  

In the fourth, CSI took the lead again on a Phil Ciprello RBI-single, but again CCNY came back, this time plating two runs in the sixth on a Kennedy Tavares RBI triple and sac fly by Richard Bethea.  

CSI needed heroics and got it in the seventh.  Frank Muzzio clocked in with a two-out RBI-single that plated Nick Delprete, who started the rally with a two-out single, advancing to second on a wild pitch.

Play then moved to the eighth, and CSI reliever Gerard Esposito retired the Beavers and then CSI took their turn at the plate.  Glenn Glennerster started things off with a double, and after CCNY starter Jose Aquino got Joe Palmeri to strike out, Ciprello then laced a single to put runners at the corners.

That’s when play was halted due to intense fog, and the wind also made it very cold at MCU.  It was decided that the game would resume tomorrow at 2:30pm, prior to the anticipated 4:00pm start time of the Championship Final, which will feature Baruch and the winner of the CSI-CCNY game.