Uniondale, N.Y. – The 16
th ranked Molloy baseball team used stellar defense and timely situational hitting to sweep the Tigers of Holy Family (8-3 and 5-3) Saturday afternoon at Mitchel Field. The Lions improve to 29-9 on the campaign, while the Tigers move to 19-21.
Game One: Molloy 8, Holy Family 3
- The road team cracked the scoreboard in the top of the first with an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead.
- Two and a half innings would go by before freshman Joe Burriesci would knot the contest at one in the bottom of the third, following a sacrifice fly.
- Holy Family wasted no time, hitting a solo home run in the top of the fourth to reclaim the lead, 2-1.
- Molloy broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth. After junior Nicholas Dagnello led off the frame with a single, junior Patrick Sanchez connected with a two-run home run over the left field fence to pull the Lions in front, 3-2.
- Later in the inning with runners on second and third with two outs, senior Gavin McAlonie knocked in a pair with a single to open the Lions' lead to three, 5-2.
- The cardinal and white used the long ball and agreesive base running to its advantage in the eighth inning. Senior Anthony Manisero connected for a two-run home run and sophomore Sean Welsh used his speed to steal third and force an errant throw to come around and score to extend the lead to six, 8-2.
- The Tigers threatened in the top of the ninth inning plating a run to cut the deficit to five, 8-3, and had runners on first and second with one away, but sophomore Mike Knapp came out of the bullpen to record the final two outs via the strikeout to earn the Lions a game one victory, 8-3.
- Sanchez, Manisero, and McAlonie each drove in two runs.
- On the mound, graduate student Charlie Cucchiara tossed six innings allowing four hits, two runs, and struck out seven to improve to 8-0 on the campaign.
- Redshirt sophomore Sean Mileti pitched 2.1 innings of relief allowing three hits and one unearned run.
Game Two: Molloy 5, Holy Family 3
- Molloy kicked off game two with three straight singles, one of which scored junior JJ DeVito off the bat of senior Aidan Larkin to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. Senior Matt Yip scored the second run of the inning with a sacrifice fly, and Dagnello capped the inning with an RBI single to give Molloy a 3-0 lead after one inning of action.
- Holy Family took Molloy's shot and sent it back at the Lions, connecting on a two-run home run in the top of the second to cut the deficit to one, 3-2.
- The Tigers brought the contest all square at three in the top of the third, following an RBI double.
- The road team looked to take the lead in the top of the fifth, putting runners on the corners with two away to bring up its cleanup hitter.
- Head Coach Joe Fucarino went to the bullpen and brought in left-hander senior Ryan Hynes in the big spot, and the senior needed just one pitch to induce a fly out to get the Lions out of the jam.
- In the bottom of the sixth, the cardinal and white took advantage of mistakes from the Tigers and collected a pair of clutch hits. Sanchez led off the inning reaching on an error and advanced to second following a sacrifice bunt. Freshman Charlie Imhof was called off the bench to hit with the go-ahead run at second but drew a four-pitch walk to put a pair of runners on with one away.
- Following a strikeout, Larkin stepped in and drove a single up the middle to score Sanchez from second to pull ahead, 4-3, and McAlonie poked an opposite field single to plate the second run of the inning to extend the lead to two, 5-3.
- Hynes used a nine-pitch top of the seventh to close out the victory and secure the doubleheader sweep, 5-3.
- McAlonie went four-for-four at the plate and drove in a run.
- Larkin tallied two hits and two RBI.
- On the mound, graduate student Matthew Fried got the start pitching 4.2 innings allowing four hits, three runs, and struck out two in the no-decision.
- Hynes tossed the final 2.1 innings of no-hit baseball and struck out three to improve to 7-1 on the season.
Up Next
Molloy hosts its final non-conference match up of the season Tuesday (Apr. 23) as they welcome the Pace University Setters to Mitchel Field. First-pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.
