It took the College of Staten Island men’s baseball team a late-inning rally, but the No. 1 seed Dolphins were able to escape MCU Ballpark in Brooklyn, New York, with an 8-5 win over No. 2 John Jay College in day two of competition of the CUNYAC Postseason Baseball Championship. The winner’s bracket final win automatically propels CSI into the Championship Round, to be played tomorrow against the winner of a 7pm elimination game tonight between John Jay and Baruch College, at 1pm. CSI advanced to 29-9 with the win, while the Bloodhounds fell to 11-28.
The game seemed to be a carbon-copy of CSI’s opening round game against No. 4 seed Baruch, where hits were at a premium through the early inning as the Dolphins fell behind, only to come back and post a big late inning to take back the lead and hold on for the win.
This time around the Dolphins were touched for a run before ever getting a turn at bat. A two-out single by Xavier Perez followed by a lined double down the left field line by Wilmer Chavez gave John Jay a 1-0 lead before CSI starter Paul Ciccazzo worked his way out of trouble.
After Ciccazzo got the Bloodhounds out on three pitches in inning number two, CSI got even in their turn at the plate, getting to John Jay starter Alex Rodriguez, the only CUNYAC pitcher to score a win over the Dolphins during the regular season. Sal Todaro did the honors, scoring on a Rodriguez throwing error after leading the inning off with a single. CSI, however, would strand three runners on the base paths to exit the inning tied 1-1.
John Jay kept hitting Ciccazzo hard, and the Bloodhounds tagged CSI with another pair of runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by Steven Kendrick’s two-RBI double, scoring Chavez and Perez. Another John Jay error allowed a CSI run to cross in the bottom half in the frame, and at the end of four complete innings, John Jay held a modest, 3-2, lead.
A ground ball RBI by Nick Catalano got John Jay back up by two in the fifth, and after CSI stranded five batters over the next two scoreless innings, John Jay took a big, 5-2, lead on another Chavez RBI single.
Down 5-2 and down to their final 9 outs, CSI needed a lift, and finally got one in the last of the seventh inning.
Joe Cassano led off with a single, which was followed with a Todaro single. Cory Sullivan’s sac bunt attempt was then misplayed by John Jay reliever Hector Class who came on in relief an inning earlier when Rodriguez got into trouble. This allowed Cassano to score and Todaro to get to third base. Mark Glennerster then walked, loaded the bases. Matt Oetting then popped a lazy fly ball to centerfield. The ball was inexplicably dropped by Edwin Hernandez in the outfield, who was still able to register an out at second base because Glennerster had not moved from first, but CSI plated another run to make it 5-4. A Steve Hession RBI-single followed, scoring Sullivan and knotting the game at 5-5. Oetting then was plated via a Devon DiCasoli basehit, and after a double-steal, Thomas DeWaters walked, loading the bases again. Pat Gale was next, posting a long fly ball to right field, a sac fly, to score Hession, ending the scoring at 7-5.
With Richard Anderson now on the mound for CSI, the young freshman got the Bloodhounds out after allowing the initial runner on base, sending the game into the bottom of the eighth. There, CSI plated another tally on an Oetting infield single, plating Sullivan.
Down to their final three outs, Anderson retired the Bloodhounds in order to preserve the 8-5 win for CSI, igniting them into the CUNYAC Championship.
Anderson got the win for CSI, tossing 2.2 innings of relief, allowing no runs on two hits. Class took the loss tossing 3.1 innings of relief allowing six runs (three earned) on 9 hits, walking two. For CSI, Sullivan was the catalyst at the plate, going 3-for-3 with three runs scored and three stolen bags. For John Jay, the duo of Perez and Chavez went a combined 6-for-10 with two RBI and three runs scored.
Earlier in the day, Baruch College beat City College of NY, 8-5, to stay alive in loser’s bracket competition. This earned Baruch a return matchup at 7pm with John Jay to determine who will play CSI tomorrow at 1pm in the Championship. Whoever wins this evening’s game will have to beat CSI twice tomorrow. The Dolphins need win one game tomorrow to claim their 14th CUNYAC Championship and first under CSI Head Coach Michael Mauro.