Staten Island, NY |  On a day when the College of Staten Island baseball team would honor their six seniors, the Dolphins were able to get a winning streak going, taking two off of CUNYAC-rivals Baruch College, by scores of 4-3 & 7-2.  The Dolphins improved to 12-13 overall and 5-2 within the CUNYAC, while the Bearcats fell to 8-16-1, 5-5, respectively, with the pair of losses.  The Dolphins have now won three-straight games for the first time this season.

Prior to first pitch, the Dolphins honored their sex seniors: Joseph Amato, Derek Jentz, Thomas Musso, Juan Rodriguez, Frank Muzzio and Glenn Glennerster.  That appeared to fuel the Dolphins, as they never trailed at any point on the afternoon, and were able to weather Baruch comebacks to stay strong within the conference.

Game One – Staten Island 4, Baruch 3
One of the afternoon’s seniors, Derek Jentz, got the nod for CSI in the opener, and after wiggling out of a bases-loaded jam in the top half of the first inning, the CSI bats gave the senior the lead.  Jordan Wilson legged out an infield single, and after being sacrificed to second base, he came in on a Sean Becker double against BC starter Paul Sirakowski.  After a scoreless second, CSI had an eventful third inning.  In the top half, leadoff hitter Michael McGroarty bounced into a routine groundout to start the frame, only it was the fourth of the game for first baseman Frank Muzzio, who became the school’s all-time leader in put-outs with 673.  Later in the inning, Nicholas Meola stroked a double that chased in Anthony DiMarco who was at second base after leading off with a single, making it 2-0.

CSI continued the pace in the fourth inning.  After an error and then a double by Jett Nouvertne, Wilson tagged a ball to right field that went for a double, plating both John Pomarico and Nouvertne to open CSI’s lead to 4-0.

From there, CSI was able to keep Baruch at bay thanks to the quality pitching of Jentz.  But the senior did hit a snag in the sixth, as Angel Acevedo was able to register a two-out RBI-single that cut the CSI lead to 4-1.  Jentz settled, however, and induced a harmless pop-out with two runners on base to end the threat.  After CSI failed to tally insurance in their turn of the sixth, play moved to the final inning and Baruch had more noise to make.

McGroarty singled to start things off and that proved the end of Jentz, who was lifted for Terrance Mulligan.  After an out and a CSI error, McGroarty came in to score on a Gerardo Roque double.  Senior Thomas Musso then came in with runners on second and third and one out.  He promptly registered a fly out, but Baruch would score the run from third base on the tag for the sac fly, making it 4-3 with the tying run still at second base with two out.  After surrendering a walk.  Musso then faced Acevedo.  He, however, would not get to swing the bat, as Musso instead whipped around and picked off Roque at second base to end the game and the BC threat, earning Musso the save.

Jentz’ final line in the win was six innings of work, yielding two runs (one earned) on seven hits, fanning three.  Sirakowski went six as well in defeat, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits, fanning five.  Both teams finished with eight hits.  Wilson scored CSI’s only multi-hit game, going 2-4 with two RBI and a run scored.  Roque went 3-3 for Baruch with a run scored while McGroarty went 2-4 at the plate with a run scored as well.

Game Two – Staten Island 7, Baruch 2
Much like the opener, CSI pounced on top of the Bearcats in the opener and never looked back.  Christian Capellan got the nod for the Dolphins and went the distance, improving to 4-1 on the season.  After holding Baruch in the first, CSI roughed up BC starter Bryan Flannery in their turn to bat.  After a pair of hits and a walk had Anthony DiMarco at third, Sean Becker at second, and Nicholas Meola at first, Muzzio electrified his career day with a two-run double to right field to open the scoring.  On the next at-bat Glenn Glennerster hit a towering shot to center field that was caught, but easily brought home Meola via sacrifice, giving CSI a 3-0 lead after a frame.

That lead then improved in the second.  Pomarico opened with a single and then Jett Nouvertne showed the speed, legging out an RBI-triple on a ball hit in the left field gap.  Flannery was then lifted for Nicholas D’Angelo but CSI was still able to bring in Nouvertne from third on a sac fly from DiMarco, making it a 5-0 game after two innings.

After Capellan surrendered a run in the third, he would settle down to retire Baruch cleanly in the fourth and fifth innings, and then CSI added two more runs in the fifth to essentially put the game out of reach.  Meola came in on a two-base outfield error and then Lozada brought in Muzzio later in the inning to make it 7-1.  The Bearcats added one in the ninth, but CSI never did warm up another arm, as Capellan was able to retire the side to preserve the win.

CSI out-hit Baruch, 11-6, in game two, getting a pair each from Lozada, Pomarico, and Nouvertne. Capellan fanned five for CSI.  Donovan Hunt scored three hits for the Bearcats, while McGroarty added another two to complete his solid day.

The Dolphins will be back in action on Sunday, when they host Purchase College in a single, nine-inning, game beginning at 12 Noon.
 

GAME VIDEO