Staten Island, NY | In their second meeting of the season with Mount St. Vincent the College of Staten Island saw a ninth-inning rally come up just short as they stranded the tying run at third base to end the game, a 4-3 defeat. The MSV victory earned them a season sweep of the College of Staten Island and brought them back to .500 on the season at 15-15. CSI saw their four-game winning streak come to an end with the loss which dropped them to 13-16.
CSI fell behind 2-0 early but responded with two runs to even the score in the bottom of the third. MSV would jump back in front with a run in the sixth and would add another insurance run to make it a two-run lead entering the ninth. Trailing 4-2 entering the final frame, CSI strung together back to back one out base-hits, a single and a double, and a sacrifice fly to draw within one, but Nick Falcone was denied a game-tying extra base-hit on a running over-the-shoulder grab by Anthony Nocero to bring the game to a close with a 4-3 victory for MSV.
Mount St. Vincent had several hard-hit balls against CSI starter Joseph Titta early in the game and got on the board for the first time in the second inning on a Nick Saranczak solo-shot that traveled well beyond the wall in straight-away right field. Ahead 1-0, MSV would add another run in the third after Jake Blinstrub walked, stole second, advanced on a groundout, and scored on a Nocero sacrifice fly.
Trailing by two runs entering the bottom of the third, CSI responded with a three-hit inning that got started with a one-out Nick Falcone infield single followed by a Jett Nouvertne base hit that moved Falcone from first to third. With runners on the corners, Domenick Castiglione hit a grounder just hard enough to the left side that MSV was able to come home with the ball to cut down Falcone trying to score from third. However, the Dolphins kept the inning going as Anthony DiMarco was hit by a pitch to load the bases setting up an Anthony Lozada two-RBI single to even the score, 2-2.
MSV would strand runners in scoring position in both the fourth and fifth against Titta before finally breaking through against the CSI starter once again in the sixth. One out away from completing six innings of two-run ball, Titta surrendered a two-out single to Eric Zimmerman, hit Matt Albert with a pitch, and walked Zachary Saunders. This not only loaded the bases but also prompted a CSI pitching change as Alexis Santos trotted in from the bullpen to try and keep the game tied. He was unable to do so as Blinstrub singled sharply through the left side bringing home the third MSV run of the game to make it 3-2.
CSI would strand a runner on third in the seventh before Mount St. Vincent would go on to add some insurance in the eighth. A hit batter and a walk issued by Santos set up Blinstrub for another two-out RBI opportunity at the plate, and he once again delivered an RBI-single, this time on a 3-2 pitch, to plate another MSV run. CSI would go down in order in the bottom of the eighth as would MSV in the top of the ninth sending the game into the final half inning with a score of 4-2.
In the bottom of the ninth CSI got a one-out single from Luke Smieya who was replaced on the base paths by pinch-runner Khalid Zahrieh. Michael Crocco followed up the Smieya single with a double down the left field line setting up CSI with runners on second and third and one out. Ciancio would drive home Zahrieh on a sacrifice fly and Crocco, the tying run, was able to advance on a high throw that missed the cutoff man at shortstop. With CSI down to their final out and the game on the line, Nick Falcone hit a well-struck ball out towards the warning track in right field, but Anthony Nocero, who was charged with two errors in the game, made a difficult over-the-shoulder running grab to deny Falcone a game-tying extra-base hit and earn his team a 4-3 victory.
Titta suffered his first loss of the season for CSI but provided a solid outing on the mound despite several hard-hit balls against him. He surrendered three runs, all earned, on seven hits, walking two, hitting a batter, and striking out one. Pedro Fortoso pitched very well for MSV earning his third win with an 8.1 inning effort in which he allowed three runs, all earned, on seven hits without issuing a walk, though he did hit two batters. Michael Crocco was the only CSI Dolphin with multiple hits in the game while Anthony Lozada drove in two of the three CSI runs. Jake Blinstrub had three hits for MSV to go along with two RBI’s in his four plate appearances and Eric Zimmerman also went three-for-four at the dish.
The College of Staten Island baseball squad is right back in action for a rare night game tomorrow against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. First pitch from the CSI Baseball Complex is scheduled for 6:30 pm.
