Box Score UNIONDALE, N.Y. (Mar. 29, 2016) – Sophomore Elijah Leerdam (Jamaica, N.Y.) hit a pinch-hit grand slam in a seven-run seventh inning as the Molloy College baseball team broke open the doors to a 9-5 win over Bloomfield College on Tuesday (Mar. 29) at Mitchel Field. The Lions improved to 15-7 with the victory while Bloomfield's record dropped to 3-13 on the season.
After falling behind by a 3-2 score in the top half of the seventh inning, the maroon and white sent 13 batters to the plate in alleviating the tension for what had been a closely contested contest throughout. Against senior reliever Justin Eclavea (South San Francisco, Calif.), Molloy designated hitter Deilyn Guzman (East Hampton, N.Y.) singled to start the inning and then advanced to second on a balk. After center fielder Joseph Nastasi (South Salem, N.Y.) was plunked by an Eclavea offering, third-place batter Kevin Podell (Wantagh, N.Y.) sent a high fly ball into left field that was hassled and harried by the swirling winds which caused Bears outfielder Harold Hester (Lakehurst, N.J.) to drop the orb onto the turf. Guzman scored on the play to tie the contest at three-all. Following a walk and a fielder's choice in the next two at-bats, junior outfielder Anthony Galanoudis (Farmingdale, N.Y.) drew ball four as Eclavea walked in the go-ahead run. Leerdam was sent to bat in place of Michael Wall (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) and the sophomore saw just one pitch in the batter's box, launching a fastball into the Long Island stratosphere and over the left-field fence to put Molloy ahead by an 8-3 score. Later in the inning, Nastasi would single home Vincent Aschettino (Massapequa, N.Y.) with the team's seventh run of the frame (all runs charged to Eclavea, who took the loss).
Starting pitcher Kevin Hiss (Merrick, N.Y.) threw a solid 4.1 innings of work, surrendering two runs on five hits while striking out four. Hiss had a shutout going through the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth, allowing both of his runs in that frame. Freshman Lucas Burton (Glendale, N.Y.) came on in relief and threw a perfect 1.2 innings while striking out two batters to get the game to the seventh. Sophomore Shawn Klotsche (Wantagh, N.Y.) allowed a run in the seventh inning but was the pitcher of record when the maroon and white went off in the bottom half of the frame; junior Sean Gordon (Levittown, N.Y.) tossed a scoreless eighth while Guzman navigated through a tough ninth inning, allowing two runs before slamming the door on the CACC representatives.
The East Hampton native was one of two players (along with Aschettino) with a team-high two hits and one of Guzman's base-knocks was a long home run over the center-field fence in the fifth inning. Leerdam drove in four runs while Galanoudis had a two-RBI day in the victory.
Molloy will continue its tour of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference on Saturday (Apr. 2) when the Lions play host to Dominican College (N.Y.) in a doubleheader at Mitchel Field beginning at 12 p.m.
