Box Score BOCA RATON, Fla. (Mar. 15, 2016) - The Molloy College baseball team had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, but the Lions could not scratch across the tying or game-winning runs as the squad lost its final game of the 2016 Florida trip to Caldwell, 5-4, on Monday (Mar. 15) in Boca Raton.
Molloy (10-5) got on the board first in the bottom of the opening frame as senior
Deilyn Guzman (East Hampton, N.Y.) singled to lead off the inning, stole second and third bases and then scored on a wild pitch. Caldwell (3-4) evened up the score in the top of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Alexander Lore (Staten Island, N.Y.); the sophomore drove in the run after a wild offering from freshman
Timothy Panetta (Broad Channel, N.Y.) advanced runners to second and third base with one out in the frame. The Cougars would knock Panetta out of the contest in the sixth inning, with senior Dominick Orlando (Manalapan, N.J.) striking for an RBI single up the middle to put his side ahead 2-1. Molloy was held in check in the bottom of the frame and sophomore catcher Justin Jeannette (East Hanover, N.J.) cracked a solo home run to lead off the seventh inning for Caldwell, putting the visitors ahead by a 3-1 score. The maroon and white scratched across a run in the bottom of the frame, loading the bases for Guzman to draw a walk to score a run. After another Caldwell run in the eighth, Molloy came back to once again cut the deficit to one run on an RBI single by
Anthony Galanoudis (Farmingdale, N.Y.). Orlando knocked in a run off of Guzman in the ninth inning to up the lead back to two runs, but the senior smacked a one-out long-ball to left field in the bottom of the frame. The Lions would load the bases with two outs on walks to
Kevin Podell (Wantagh, N.Y.) and
Michael Rahn (Sayville, N.Y.) plus a single from
Angelo Navetta (Staten Island, N.Y.). Caldwell reliever Jon Gribbin (Westfield, N.J.) was able to shut the door, however, inducing a groundout off the bat of
Brian Murphy (Elmont, N.Y.) to end the contest in favor of the Cougars.
The Lions knocked 11 hits in the contest but also left 11 runners on base. Guzman, Podell and Galanoudis each had a couple of hits with Guzman driving in two runs. Panetta was the tough-luck loser, tossing five-plus innings while allowing two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts. In relief,
Seth Noreman (Old Bethpage, N.Y.) let up a couple of runs over two-and-a-third innings of work while sophomore
Shawn Klotsche (Wantagh, N.Y.) tossed a perfect two-thirds of an inning. Guzman pitched the ninth and allowed a run on a hit and two walks. For Caldwell, Chris Gehrsitz (Jackson, N.J.) pitched six-and-two-thirds innings of six-hit ball while allowing two runs to pick up the win.
The Molloy College baseball team plays on Saturday (Mar. 19) at home against Stonehill College in a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at MItchel Field in Uniondale.
