Niagara Falls, N.Y. – On the back of a collective two hit shutout, the Molloy baseball team topped the Saints of D'Youville, 3-0, Sunday afternoon. The Lions conclude its conference schedule 15-5 and improve to 26-16 overall, while the Saints move to 12-31 overall and 6-10 in East Coast Conference play.
How it Happened
- The contest began as a pitcher's duel, as redshirt sophomore Mike Knapp and D'Youville starter Billy Morris allowed just three hits combined in the opening three innings.
- Molloy broke through in the top of the fourth. Senior Nicholas Dagnello connected and drove solo home run over the right field fence to put the Lions on the board, 1-0.
- The cardinal and white added important insurance runs in the top of the seventh following a two-RBI double from junior Sean Welsh to add to the lead, 3-0.
- Knapp continued to dominate, retiring 15 straight from the fourth through when he was pulled after eight innings of work.
- In the ninth the Saints threatened with two outs, drawing a walk and putting a second runner on following a single to bring the tying run to the plate.
- Redshirt Sean Mileti was called out of the bullpen to get the final out in a lefty-lefty matchup. Mileti did so quickly, inducing a fly out to close out the contest, 3-0.
Top Performances
- Knapp improved to 3-3 on the campaign after throwing eight innings of scoreless baseball allowing just one hit and two walks while tying a career-high 11 strikeouts on 96 pitches.
- Mileti picks up his second save of the season, recording the final out.
- Dagnello connected on his fourth home run of the season.
- Senior Patrick Sanchez and sophomore Joe Burriesci collected two hits each.
- Welsh, redshirt senior Matthew Gonchar, senior Thomas Lebrecht and junior Jeremy Taggart collected a hit a piece with Welsh driving in two runs.
Up Next
The Lions will travel to play Dominican University Tuesday, April 29 in a non-conference matchup. First pitch from Orangeburg, N.Y. is set for 3:30 p.m.
