BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – Despite falling 14-11 to Queens College, the LIU Post baseball team made history Monday afternoon at the LIU Post Baseball Stadium as it ended its regular season with the highest-ever winning percentage in East Coast Conference (ECC) play and the most ECC wins in history.
LIU Post's .857 winning percentage in ECC play tops the previous mark of .800 set by Saint Thomas Aquinas College in 2017.
With a 24-4 record in ECC games, the Pioneers eclipsed the previous conference wins record of 22 set by Molloy College in 2011 and LIU Post in 2010.
The Pioneers' senior class also goes down as the winningest class in school history.
Senior
Dave Brehm led the Pioneers with three hits, including the 200
th of his career, and two stolen bases. Senior
Ryan Dalton contributed two hits and two RBI while senior
Reynaldo Guillen, senior
Joe Piscitelli, senior
Michael Greene and junior
Zach Fritz each recorded one hit and two RBI.
The game was a back-and-forth battle, with the Knights taking an early 2-0 lead but the Pioneers bouncing back to even it up 2-2 in the bottom of the second after a two RBI single to right center by Piscitelli.
By the top of the sixth the Knights had raced out to an 11-2 lead, but the Pioneers would mount a comeback beginning with Greene's two RBI homer to left field in the bottom of the sixth to make it an 11-4 contest.
LIU Post's offense erupted in the bottom of the seventh, with Manzione drawing a walk and Dalton scoring to cut the deficit by another run. Fritz then knocked a two RBI double to left center and Guillen followed with a two RBI single to right center. Dalton then ripped a two RBI single down the left field line to tie it up, 11-11.
Queens was able to add three more runs and hold on for the 14-11 victory.
Up Next
The Pioneers will begin ECC Tournament play as the No. 1 seed on Thursday, May 9 at Angelo Lorenzo Field on the campus of the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, New York.