Skyhawks commit nine miscues in doubleheader sweep
Sophomore Chris Hoyt recorded two hits and a walk in Stonehill's two losses to LIU Post today. |
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (March 23, 2014) – The Stonehill College baseball team had its five-game winning streak halted today with losses to LIU Post in both ends of a doubleheader in non-conference action at LIU Post Baseball Field. Stonehill fell 2-1 in a 14-inning marathon, before dropping a 7-inning contest by a 4-2 final.
LIU Post used a 15-7 advantage in hits and two impressive pitching performances to take two games from Stonehill today. Senior Tom Tolan (Malverne, N.Y./Kellenberg) led the Pioneer offense with a 3-for-9 performance at the plate, while adding two stolen bases, one RBI, and one run. Junior Angel Vidal (Brooklyn, N.Y./Sheepshead Bay) also went 3-for-9 with one RBI, while freshman Kenny Daley (Glenwood Landing, N.Y./North Shore) was 2-for-7 with two steals and a walk.
Redshirt junior Mike Eckerle (Hewlett, N.Y./Hewlett) pitched a 7-inning complete game in LIU Post's game two victory, earning the win after allowing two runs on four hits while striking out ten and walking three.
Junior Joey Arena (Yorktown, N.Y./Lakeland) did not earn a decision in the opener, despite going nine innings and allowing just one run on three hits to go with nine strikeouts and two walks.
Stonehill junior Neal Horan (Mashpee, Mass./BC High) nearly matched Arena's effort, but also did not earn a decision in the first game after lasting 7.1 innings and giving up no runs on six hits while striking out seven and walking three. Junior Armand Rugel (Middletown, R.I./Middletown) came on in relief of Horan and tossed 5.2 innings, allowing one unearned run on just two hits to go with five strikeouts.
Stonehill was led offensively by sophomore Chris Hoyt (Walpole, Mass./Xaverian Brothers), who recorded two of the Skyhawks' seven hits while drawing one walk. Junior Christian Baglini (Milford, Conn./Notre Dame) picked up an RBI in the first game and went 1-for-2 with a run and a walk in the second contest, while classmate Eric Schneider (Camarillo, Calif./St. Bonaventure) drove in both of Stonehill's runs in game two.
LIU Post overcame a ninth-inning deficit before winning the first contest in fourteen innings, the longest game of the season for Stonehill. Vidal and freshman Thomas Asbaty (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) led the Pioneers with two hits each, while Daley went 1-for-4 with a walk and a steal. Freshman Dan Jagiello (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) earned the win for LIU Post after coming on in relief of Arena and tossing five scoreless, hitless innings while striking out six and walking two.
Hoyt, classmate Brian Campbell (Franklin, Mass./Mount Saint Charles), and senior Dan Fratus (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) had one hit each for Stonehill, while Horan and Rugel combined to give up just one run in 13 innings. Sophomore Mike Krupczak (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) took the loss after coming on in the 14th inning and giving up the winning run.
Junior Armand Rugel threw 5.2 innings of relief, allowing just one unearned run on two hits to go with five strikeouts in Stonehill's 14-inning loss to LIU Post. |
Stonehill got on the board in the first inning, as Campbell doubled with one out, Hoyt followed with a walk, and senior Billy Karalis (Pawtucket, R.I./Bishop Feehan) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Baglini came up next and delivered a sacrifice fly to stake Stonehill to a 1-0 advantage, a lead it would maintain until the ninth inning.
Trailing 1-0 in the ninth, freshman Brian Tinney (Farmingdale, N.Y./St. Anthony's) reached base on an error and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Senior Connor McCarthy (Westbury, N.Y./W.T. Clarke) pinch ran for Tinney, and advanced to third on a groundout. Down to their last out, the Pioneers tied the contest when McCarthy scored on a passed ball, sending the game to extra innings.
After nearly winning the game in the 12th inning, LIU Post threatened again in the 14th. Sophomore John Bellock (Glen Cove, N.Y./Glen Cove) led off the inning by reaching on an error, before getting to third on consecutive wild pitches. Two batters later, Bellock came around to score the game-winning run on Stonehill's second error of the inning.
After a 14-inning marathon in the opener, LIU Post took the second game of the day on the strength of Eckerle's shutout effort. Tolan keyed the offense by going 3-for-4 with an RBI, a steal, and a run, while Vidal recorded one hit and one RBI.
Hoyt, Karalis, Baglini, and Schneider had one hit each for Stonehill, while Schneider also drove in the Skyhawks' two runs. Sophomore John Hauck (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn-Trafford) took the loss after giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits in five innings of work. Freshman Jeremy Roberts (Reading, Mass./Malden Catholic) pitched a scoreless sixth and allowed one hit to go with one strikeout.
The Pioneers scored single runs in the first and second innings on an RBI single by Vidal and a throwing error to go up 2-0 before Stonehill came back with a pair of runs to tie it in the top of the fourth.
Karalis and Baglini reached on walks to lead off the inning before a sacrifice bunt by Fratus moved both runners into scoring position. Schneider came up next and tied the contest with a two-run single up the middle, but Stonehill's lead would be short-lived.
The Pioneers took the lead right back in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Tolan, and the home team added an insurance run in the sixth with the help of three Stonehill errors. The Skyhawks went down in order in the seventh as Eckerle finished off his complete game.
Stonehill (12-7, 2-0 NE-10) will be back in action on Wednesday with a contest at Assumption College, before opening its home slate on Thursday against the Greyhounds at 3:30 p.m. LIU Post (6-5, 0-0 ECC) is set to travel to Felician College on Wednesday for a 3 p.m. contest.
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