On the final day pf the regular season for the College of Staten Island baseball team, the Dolphins let drop a 9-8 decision to Lehman College in the rubber game of a three-game set played at South Field in the Bronx, NY.  The Dolphins fell to 23-10-1 while the Lightning lifted to 10-24.

In a game that featured four lead changes, the runs came scattered until a feverish final.  In the opening inning, the Dolphins took a quick, 1-0 lead when Frank Muzzio laced a single into center field, plating Frank Sconzo.  Anthony DiMarco also raced in to score but was called out on the play, but CSI had the game’s first lead against LC starter Rich Villar.

Against CSI starter Josh Bernstein, Lehman would get even in the first.  a ground rule double by Jeffrey Ledesma would plate Natanael Toribio, who led off the rally with a single and a steal of second base.  Again, CSI answered, this time with a run in the second when Bobby Drake would come in on a wild pitch.  Drake earned on via a Villar walk, then stole second and advanced to third on an error.

Lehman didn’t waste any time in setting the theme for the game which was coming-from-behind, and Lehman did that by taking the lead in the second.  With two out, J Maldonado singled and then Steve Cuello hit a homerun in Lehman’s short right field porch, giving the home team a 3-2 lead.  

Bernstein would settle and throw a scoreless third and fourth while CSI tied it in the fourth with a Chris Moran single that plated Drake, who again earned on via a walk to start the inning.  Lehman answered, however, in the fifth.  Again, with two out, Ledesma singled, and after advancing two bases on wild pitches, he would come in on a Chris Lopez single to make it 4-3 in favor of Lehman after five frames.

Working against reliever Anthony Riley, CSI then took a decisive lead in the sixth, using a bases load walk by Sconzo to score Sean Becker and then a DiMarco sac fly to take the lead, 5-4.  One inning later, against Jose Albricole, CSI scored two more, extending to 7-4.  LC just would not go away and they would respond with two runs of their own highlighted by a Toribio RBI single against CSI reliever Juan Rodriguez.

Play then moved into the eighth inning, and there, CSI added an insurance run a Muzzio RBI groundout that scored Jett Nouvertne, who led off with an infield single.  With CSI up, 8-6, they moved to the bottom half of the eighth, and there, for yet another time, Lehman had an answer.

With runners at second and third and one out due to a walk and single, Cuello made it a robust afternoon by launching a three-run homerun to center field, clearing the bases and giving Lehman a 9-8 lead.

For the top half of the 9th, Lehman brought in M Prevosti to try and get the save.  CSI’s Ariel Paez earned a two-out walk, but a Nouvertne groundout would end the game and the threat and preserved the Lehman win.

Abrincole earned the win to go to 2-6 on the year while Rodguez recorded the loss to go to 1-1.  Both teams plated 11 hits.  DiMarco, Muzzio, Moran and Nouvertne all recoprded two apiece.  Cuello finished 2-5 with 5 RBI and three runs scored for the Lightning.

The Dolphins will now be idle until Thursday, when they will usher in the 2017 CUNYAC Postseason Tournament.  CSI is the No. 1 seed and will play the winner of a No. 4 John Jsy vs. No. 5 Lehman gme that will be played at 1pm at the CSI Baseball Complex.