Staten Island, NY | Coming off a split of their doubleheader against CCNY in CUNYAC play on Saturday, the Dolphins suffered an 11-6 defeat at the hands of Purchase College in non-conference play. CSI put together a 12-hit effort on their way to scoring six, but Purchase converted their 13 hits into eleven runs. The victory improved the Panthers to 12-5 and dropped CSI to 8-12.
Joseph Decelie got the start for CSI and after a 1-2-3 first inning, he received some early run support. A two-out Dolphins rally in the bottom half of the opening frame got started with a four-pitch walk of Domenick Castiglione. An Andrew Nathan single followed by a passed ball set up Sean Becker with runners on second and third and two away. Becker came through with the 2-RBI single to plate the first two runs of the game giving CSI a 2-0 lead.
However, the Dolphins lead was short-lived as a one-out single, stolen base, and wild pitch quickly moved Nick Tuozzola to third base for Purchase. He was singled home by James May who ultimately came around to score on a passed ball and even up the score at two.
A pair of base hits led to a Dolphins bases-loaded threat in the third, but Castiglione grounded out to end the inning and CSI came up empty. In the next half inning, Purchase plated the go-ahead run on another Dolphins passed ball, one of their three in the game. This put the Panthers ahead 3-2 entering the bottom of the third where CSI the lead right back on a Steven Collica RBI-single, one of his three hits, followed by a Joseph Manzi sacrifice fly.
CSI took a 4-3 lead into the fourth, but it was in this inning that Purchase would take the lead for good. A pair of walks and a base hit loaded the bags with Panthers before the tying and go-ahead runs both came home to score on wild pitches. Now leading 5-4, the Panthers extended their lead to a pair on a John Fitgerald RBI-double.
The score would remain 6-4 until the sixth when Purchase plated two more on a Tighe Jorgensen RBI-single. The Panthers then tacked on one more in the eighth to make it 9-4 before CSI responded with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom half of the inning to pull themselves back within striking distance at 9-6.
Trailing by three, the CSI bullpen couldn’t keep them there as the Panthers added another two runs on only a single base hit. A hit batter opened the frame before a double put runners on second and third. The first of the two ninth-inning Panther runs came home on a balk before a groundout plated one more. This sent CSI into their final turn at-bat trailing 11-6 and, despite a pair of singles, the Purchase insurance runs kept CSI from entertaining any thoughts of a comeback.
Daniel Garcia was the losing pitcher for the Dolphins coming on in relief of Decelie to open the fourth. Another reliever, Cody Hannequin of the Panthers, earned the win despite allowing two runs. Collica led the Dolphins with three hits in five plate appearances in the game, and Becker contributed an early-inning RBI-double driving in a team-leading two runs. For Purchase, Fitzgerald was on base three times with a walk and two hits to go along with a pair of RBI’s.
CSI is back in action for a trio of conference games this weekend against Baruch beginning with a doubleheader on Friday at the CSI Baseball Complex. Baruch will be the home team for the two-game set on Friday and CSI will be the home team in a single, nine-inning affair on Saturday.
