Southern Connecticut Takes Two From Baseball
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 FLEMINGTON, N.J. (March 2, 2013) – The LIU Post baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Southern Connecticut State University, 5-4 and 13-1, on a chilly Saturday afternoon at Diamond Nation.
The Pioneers fall to 1-5 on the season while SCSU improves to 4-1.
In the first game, the Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the second as sophomore designated hitter
Anthony Brunetti (Bayville, N.Y.) led off the inning with a single, and following a sacrifice bunt, scored on senior third baseman
Kevin Chenicek's (Levittown, N.Y.) double to right center. But SCSU scored three in the bottom of the inning off senior
Bo Budkevics (Deer Park, N.Y.), and pushed across another in the third to take a 4-1 lead.
The Pioneers put together a big sixth inning as junior second baseman
Casey McKay (North Massapequa, N.Y.) stroked a two-out single down the left field line. Senior catcher
Anthony Corona (Carmel, N.Y.) lined a double to left to put runners on second and third, and Brunetti singled up the middle to plate them both. Senior shortstop
Keith Herring (New York, N.Y.) tripled to right center to drive in Brunetti and tie the score 4-4.
The game remained tied into the ninth, and the Pioneers had a chance to take the lead in the top of the inning as Brunetti worked a lead-off walk and was replaced by pinch runner, senior
David Saldana (Deer Park, N.Y.). Herring laid down a sacrifice bunt, and Saldana alertly advanced all the way to third on the play. But Mike Yerina came on for the Owls and induced a strikeout and groundout to strand Saldana at third.
Southern Connecticut pushed across the winning run in the ninth after a two-out single up the middle by T.J. Shea scored Nick Baviello.
Budkevics tossed seven innings to leave with the no-decision. His final line was four runs on 10 hits, striking out four. Sophomore
Joey Arena (Lakeland, N.Y.) took the loss, throwing one and two thirds innings and allowing one run on two hits. Pat Egan got the win for the Owls with 0.2 innings of scoreless relief.
Brunetti went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored to lead LIU Post.
In the nightcap, things unraveled quickly for the Pioneers as SCSU scored four in the second, helped by two Pioneer errors in the inning. Another two runs in the third and another four in the fifth made it a 10-0 lead for the Owls. LIU Post did break up the shutout with a run in the ninth as Herring scored on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by
Dave Grovenveld (Centereach, N.Y.), but fell by a 13-1 final.
McKay led the Pioneers at the plate with two hits in the game. T.K. Kiernan went 2-for-4 with four RBI and three runs scored for the Owls.
The Pioneers and the Owls are back in action tomorrow in another doubleheader at Diamond Nation, beginning at 12 p.m.