Yaphank, NY | The College of Staten Island baseball team started the afternoon by losing their second-straight contest at the hands of The City College of New York, but the Dolphins bounced back for a win in the second game of the doubleheader to salvage the afternoon and give the Dolphins their first CUNYAC win of the season. CCNY won the opener, 8-6, before CSI answered the call with a big, 16-3, winner in the second game, The Dolphins moved to 8-11 overall and 1-2 in the CUNYAC, while CCNY moved to 6-8, 2-1, respectively.
GAME ONE – CCNY 8, STATEN ISLAND 6
The frustrating opener saw the Dolphins open up a 3-0 lead, but the Beavers would tie and then add five runs in the fifth inning, forcing the Dolphins to try and come back, and it would come up short as CSI would fall, 8-6.
CSI would have a great start against CCNY starter Peter Komaroski, plating a pair of runs in the first inning. Nick Falcone would leg out an infield hit, and after another infield hit, Sean Becker would plate Falcone with a base hit. A CCNY error would then plate the second CSI run.
The two-run lead expanded in the third inning for CSI. Thanks to another Beavers error, Falcone would get on base again, and he would steal two bases in-between another error to make it a 3-0 game.
The lead, however, would be short-lived as CCNY got to CSI starter Christian Capellan in their turn of the third frame. Michael Espinal did major damage with a two-run single, and later he would score the tying run on a Hamley Volquez single.
After a quiet fourth for both teams, CCNY exploded for five runs on five hits in the fifth. Capellan’s day was done when he allowed a leadoff single and then a double in the inning to put runners on second and third. Andrew Nathan would come in to pitch. He would surrender a sac fly, and then Chris Moreno broke things open with a two-run single to make it 6-3. After registering an out, Moreno would come in on a Cooper York single, and Ethan Angress would later steal home to make it an 8-3 game.
Down to their final six outs, CSI was not going down without a fight. CSI would score three in the sixth, the first on a Jett Nouvertne single that plated Becker, and then a two-run home run by Anthony Lozada. Komaroski would be lifted for Christian Barletta, and after giving up a hit, he would induce a groundout to end the frame.
In the seventh, CSI scored a pair of singles, but Barletta rebounded by inducing a fly out to end the threat and the game at 8-6.
Komaroski scored the win with 5.2 innings of work, allowing six runs, four earned, fanning four. Barletta scored the save. Capellan took the loss, tossing four innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, fanning four. CCNY out-hit CSI, 11-10, paced by York’s 3-for-4 performance while Espinal went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and runs scored. Domenick Castiglione and Becker each popped in a pair of hits, adding an RBI and two runs scored between them.
GAME TWO – STATEN ISLAND 16, CCNY 3
Falling to 0-2 in the CUNYAC, the Dolphins needed a win in the final game of the series with CCNY to not fall too far back in the standings, and they delivered in a big way in the second contest. CSI exploded for 22 hits against four different CCNY pitchers, blowing out the Beavers, 16-3.
Before CCNY could get up to the plate, CSI had already opened up a 4-0 lead in the first off of CCNY starter Alex Velazquez. After a pair of RBI-singles from Nathan and Becker, Nouvertne powered a home run to left-center, scoring two to account for the 4-0 lead.
After CSI starter Salvatore Tracucci retired CCNY in the first, CSI went right back to work and spread out another five runs on six hits in the second inning. Becker started it all with another CSI homer to make it 6-0, scoring Nathan as well, who doubled earlier. Anthony DiMarco added a RBI-single, and then Michael Ciancio joined the hit parade with a two-RBI single to score DiMarco and Nouvertne.
Not willing to relent, CSI added five more in the third to finish off the bulk of their scoring. Nouvertne and Steven Collica plated runs on hits and Ciancio drew a bases-loaded walk in the inning. Two more runs would come in via CCNY error.
From there, CSI was able to coast to victory, and Khalid Zahrieh scored a home run as well, scoring Lozada as well to open CSI’s lead to 16-3. Overall CSI out-hit CCNY, 22-9. Nathan, Becker and Nouvertne combined for 9 hits, adding seven RBI, and 9 runs scored. Trancucci took the win, tossing 5.2 innings, allowing three runs, all earned, with a CSI season-high 11 strikeouts.
CSI will be back in action for a single game against Purchase State on Wednesday, April 3, at the CSI Baseball Complex at 4pm.
