UNIONDALE, N.Y. (May 3, 2017) – After a combined 27 runs were scored, the Molloy baseball team walked away with a 14-13 victory over the Chargers of Dominican College at the Mitchel Field Athletic Complex. Freshman Anthony Vano (Babylon, N.Y.) picked up his first win of the season, pitching 3.1 innings, while Arben Becaj (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was handed the loss for Dominican. The team sits at 18-24 headed into the final series of the season.

The maroon and white scored the first six runs of the contest. Junior Angelo Navetta (Staten Island, N.Y.) gave the Lions a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a solo home run to right center field before freshman Jake Saltzman (Old Bethpage, N.Y.) made it 3-0 in the second with a two-run home run of h own. The team then rallied for three runs with two outs in the second with senior Brian Murphy (Elmont, N.Y.) singling up the middle to score senior Ryan Dillon (Medford, N.Y.) and redshirt senior Michael Rahn (Sayville, N.Y.) driving in two more with a double to left center field.

The Chargers responded in the top of the fourth inning as Max Franzone (Nanuet, N.Y.) singled to right field to score two runs before Arbely Soto (Bronx, N.Y.) drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-3. Molloy's offense continued in the bottom half of the inning as Navetta singled to score freshman James Messina (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) before junior Elijah Leerdam (Jamaica, N.Y.) hit a sacrifice fly to score senior Anthony Alberghina (Staten Island, N.Y.).

Brendan Woodruff (Cincinnati, Ohio) hit a sacrifice fly of his own in the fifth inning to bring Dominican within four runs. A run-scoring ground out by Justin Decker (Rotterdam, N.Y.) and a double from Soto made it a two-run game, 8-6, midway through the sixth inning. The maroon and white pulled back ahead by four runs in the home half of the inning as freshman Sean Hogan (East Meadow, N.Y.) singled up the middle to score two runs.

A fielding error would score a run for the Chargers in the top of the seventh, but the Lions rallied for four runs in the bottom half of the inning on RBIs from Rahn, Leerdam, and Hogan to take a 14-7 lead.

Dominican would score one in the eighth with a ground rule double from Decker. Molloy carried the six-run lead into the final inning, but a passed ball and RBIs from Anthony Bartolomei (Oakhurst, N.J.), Jordan Barnacet (Schenectady, N.Y.) and Brett Karcher-Bowen (Cypress, Texas) brought the Chargers within one run, 14-13. With two outs, redshirt senior Matt Castaneda (East Meadow, N.Y.) forced a ground out to end the contest and seal the 14-13 victory in favor of the Lions.

Molloy was led by three RBIs from Hogan, Rahn and Navetta with the junior going 2-for-3 with a home run.

The team begins its final series of the regular season, welcoming LIU Post to Mitchel Field tomorrow (May 4) at 4:00 p.m.