MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (Feb. 25, 2017) – The Molloy baseball team fell to Felician University and Southern Connecticut State University in the second day of the Northeast Challenge at Ebbets Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The loss drops the Lions to 0-6 on the season.
Game 1: Molloy 7, Felician 12
The maroon and white found themselves down 1-0 after the first inning, but a single from senior
Kevin Podell (Wantagh, N.Y.) in the top of the third tied the score 1-1. The Lions would take the lead in their half of the fourth inning. Junior
Jack McCarty (Huntington, N.Y.) started the rally off with an RBI single to right field. In the following at bat, senior
Brian Murphy (Elmont, N.Y.) walked to load the bases for Podell. Junior
Joseph Nastasi (south Salem, N.Y.) scored on a wild pitch before Podell picked up two more RBIs on a single up the middle to set the score at 5-1.
In the bottom half of the inning, Felician put up four runs to tie the score 5-5. Neither team would bring any more runs across the plate until the Golden Falcons exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to go up 12-5. The Lions went into the bottom of the ninth inning still trailing by seven runs. With two outs, freshman
Jake Saltzman (Old Bethpage, N.Y.) drove one home with a single up the middle to make it 12-6. Senior
Austin Nieves (Glendale, N.Y.) sent the ball back up the middle in the next at-bat to score Saltzman and bring the Lions within five. The rally, however, would fall short as Felician took home the 12-7 win.
Senior
Dominic Danetti (Wantagh, N.Y.) struck out five through six innings of work in a no decision while freshman
Anthony Vano (Babylon, N.Y.) took the loss, falling to 0-1 on the year. Podell went 3-for-5 with three RBIs on the day while McCarty went 2-for-4 with one RBI and a stolen base.
Michael Rahn (Sayville, N.Y.) also picked up a stolen base in the effort, going 2-for-5 at the dish.
Game 2: Molloy 0, Southern Connecticut 17
In the team's second game of the day, Saltzman, freshmen
Sean Hogan (East Meadow, N.Y) and
Matthew Imbrogno (Wantagh, N.Y.) and senior
Ryan Dillon (Medford, N.Y.) all registered hits in the Lions loss to the Owls. Junior pitcher
Anthony Catinella (Middle Village, N.Y.) went 4.1 innings, striking out four batters.
The Lions face Concordia on Sunday (Feb. 26) at 12:00 p.m. in the final day of the Northeast Challenge.
