Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 SHIRLEY, N.Y. (Apr. 30, 2016) - A 19-hit explosion in Game 1 coupled with a lockdown effort from the bullpen in Game 2 guided the Molloy College baseball team to an important sweep of Dowling College on Saturday (Apr. 30) at Golden Lions Field in a pivotal ECC doubleheader. With wins of 10-3 and 9-8, Molloy improved its record to 28-15 overall and 12-7 in East Coast Conference play; the 12-7 record has the maroon and white exactly one game behind Saint Thomas Aquinas for first place in the ECC standings. Dowling, on the other hand, falls to 18-21 overall with a 10-9 mark in conference competition.
Game One: Molloy 10, Dowling 3
A seven-run second inning by the Lions' offense was enough for sophomore pitcher
Anthony Catinella (Middle Village, N.Y.), who went the distance and struck out nine batters to capture his sixth win of the season. In the frame, Molloy sent 11 batters to the plate with both
Anthony Alberghina (Staten Island, N.Y.) and
Nicholas Gonchar (Staten Island, N.Y.) each driving in two runs as the Lions chased junior John Parisi (East Northport, N.Y.) after just one-and-two-thirds innings pitched. Sophomore first baseman
Angelo Navetta (Staten Island, N.Y.) had a run-scoring single in the third inning while junior
Kevin Podell (Wantagh, N.Y.) hit an RBI single in the fifth to give Molloy a 10-2 lead at the time. Gonchar and
Deilyn Guzman (East Hampton, N.Y.) had four hits in the win and the Lions also got three base-knocks from Podell and Navetta to even up the series with the Golden Lions.
  Game Two: Molloy 9, Dowling 8 - Seven Innings
A wild second game of the day followed with Molloy jumping in front in the second inning thanks to a four-run outburst. The Lions had the bases loaded against starter Dennis Buckstein (Holbrook, N.Y.) after Gonchar and
Anthony Galanoudis (Farmingdale, N.Y.) collected singles and Guzman drew a walk to stack the bags. Podell then slammed the first pitch he saw from Buckstein into left-center field, clearing the bases and putting the maroon and white on the board first. Navetta then doubled home Podell to give Molloy a 4-0 lead for red-shirt junior
Bobby Kelly (Mineola, N.Y.). Gonchar doubled home another run in the third inning, but Dowling would make life harder for the visitors with a five-run bottom of the third against Kelly. Tim Going (Islip, N.Y.) and his brother R.J. Going (Islip, N.Y.) both drove in runs to start the rally and a two-run double by Chris Appell (Westbury, N.Y.) brought the Golden Lions on even terms after three innings. Dowling went ahead in the fourth inning, scoring two runs off of freshman reliever
Lucas Burton (Glendale, N.Y.) as the Going brothers once again caused havoc; R.J. Going dragged an RBI bunt single up the third-base line and then forced a throwing error on a stolen base attempt that brought in Tyler Piccolo (Sound Beach, N.Y.) to give Dowling a 7-5 lead. In the fifth inning, Molloy scored four runs to take a 9-7 lead that proved to be insurmountable. Galanoudis drew a walk with the bases loaded and then Guzman roped a single through the left side of the infield to bring home two runs and put the Lions back in front. A wild pitch scored Galanoudis later in the inning to give Molloy a two-run edge. The Lions' bullpen held serve throughout the remainder of the contest; Burton,
Matt Castaneda (East Meadow, N.Y.) and
Shawn Klotsche (Wantagh, N.Y.) combined to keep the Golden Lions to just one additional run on an error in the seventh to preserve the win.
Molloy pounded 12 hits in the win with Gonchar leading the charge on a 3-for-4 performance. Podell, Navetta and
Brian Murphy (Elmont, N.Y.) each collected two hits to help the cause for the Lions. Burton picked up the win in relief, allowing two runs and three hits in two innings while Castaneda surrendered just one hit in his inning of work. Klotsche collected his second save despite allowing the run in the seventh on a fielding error.
Molloy and Dowling will close out the four-game series on Sunday (May 1) with a contest that will begin at 2:30 p.m. The game will be played at Mitchel Field in Uniondale, but will start later due to the Long Island Marathon taking place earlier in the day.Â
