The College of Staten Island baseball program complete their final pair of game in the regular season today with a split against Lehman College.  The Dolphins used a late rally to come back and take game one from the Lightning 9-4 at the CSI Baseball Complex before dropping game two 3-4.  The Dolphins move to 23-9-1 on the year while the Lightning move to 9-23.
 
Game 1: Staten Island 9, Lehman 4
 
It was the Lightning that struck first with consecutive runs in the first and second innings to jump out to 2-0 over the host Dolphins. Cuello was able to reach via a walk before moving all the way to third on a single to right field by Toribio.  Cuello would cross the dish thanks to Ledesma who hit the ball to Jett Nouvertne at shortstop and made the decision to get the sure out at first.  In the second inning the Lightning received another run after Lopez sent one out of the park for a solo home run to give his team a 2-0 lead.
 
The Dolphins found their way onto the board in the bottom of the third inning after Nick Meola was able to respond to the Lightning’s home run with a solo homer of his own to bring the Dolphins within one of their opponents. Both teams would be held scoreless in the fourth which would wind up being the only scoreless inning of the first game.
 
Arias tripled to right field to kick off the fifth inning which led to a two-run inning by the Lightning.  Only one of the runs would be charged to Tom Musso however as there would be an error by the Dolphins.
 
CSI would finally hit pay dirt in the bottom of the sixth with a seven-run inning.  Heading into the bottom of the sixth the Dolphins were staring at a two-run deficit and it’s this time of the year where the Dolphins love to make extraordinary comebacks.  Today’s game would be no different as the Dolphins would score seven runs on just two hits while the Lightning committed just one error.  Staten Island would score a majority of their runs as Velasquez, the Lightning’s starting pitcher, began to grow weary and walk in several runs.  Nouvertne was able to tally an RBI early in the inning when he hit a single to left field which brought home Josh Mercado who reached via being hit by a pitch. Frank Sconzo and Anthony DiMarco were both beneficiaries of a wild pitch as they both crossed due to separate wild pitches, which sealed the deal for the Lightning as they were unable to bounce back from their sixth inning meltdown.
 
The Dolphins would go on to score 9 runs on six hits while committing just one error in the first game. Mercado would finish game one a perfect 2-for-2 with a run while Meola finished 1-for-2 with an RBI and a pair of runs. James Taunton came in for Musso in the sixth inning and picked up the win for the Dolphins which improved his record to 3-2 on the year as he tallied three strikeouts and allowed just one hit in two innings of work.
 
Game 2: Lehman 4, Staten Island 3
 
The lightning would not make the same mistake they did in the first game after taking an early lead. The Dolphins would once again fall behind 0-2 just as they did in the first game but the Lightning were able to hang onto the lead as they peppered the Dolphins for 10 hits while holding the Dolphins to just six hits.
 
Lehman used three consecutive singles to find their first run of the game.  Ledesma singled to right field to bring home Cuello from third after Cuello reached on an infield single to shortstop.  Toribio stood on third and awaited his time to come home with two outs and seized that opportunity with a passed ball.
 
Staten Island would answer in the third inning with a run of their own to cut into Lehman’s two-run lead.  Nouvertne would lay down a bunt to move Bobby Drake over to third, when the Lightning tried to throw out Nouvernte at first an errant throw by the third baseman sent Drake scurrying home to put the Dolphins on the board.
 
A Sconzo double down the left field line tied the game up at two before Meola collected the go ahead run when he brought Sconzo home with a single through the left side for their first lead of the game. That lead would not last long however as the Lightning were able to match the Dolphins’ two runs in the very next inning to take a one-run lead that they would not surrender.
 
Lehman scattered four hits in the top of the sixth to cross their two runs to pick up their 9th win of the season.
 
Meola had a good game two, finishing 2-for-3 with an RBI while Sconzo went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run.
 
The Dolphins return to action on Thursday, May 4th where they will take on the winner of the opening round game of the CUNYAC Tournament at the CSI Baseball Complex.