Niagara Falls, N.Y. – The top-seeded Molloy baseball team opened the East Coast Conference tournament against the fourth-seeded Knights of Queens College Thursday afternoon. After scoring seven runs in the bottom of the first, the Lions came away with a 14-6 victory to move into the winner's bracket. Molloy sits at 30-17 on the season, while the Knights move to 18-27.
How it Happened
- Graduate student Aidan Larkin began the scoring with an RBI single into left. Three batters later, junior Sean Serrano plated a pair ripping a single into center to plate a run and junior Jack Coogan reached on a fielder's choice to score a run to make it 3-0.
- With the bases loaded, sophomore Joe Burriesci knocked in two and junior Sean Welsh capped the seven-run inning with a two-run double to left.
- Queens cracked the scoreboard in the top of the second following an RBI single to cut the deficit to six, 7-1.
- The Lions put together a four-run bottom of the third to break the game open, 11-1. Burriesci singled to the left side, redshirt senior Matthew Gonchar plated a pair with a single up the middle, and senior Nicholas Dagnello recorded a sacrifice fly.
- After Queens tallied a run in the top of the fourth, Larkin and Dagenllo drove in a run each with a single and double, respectively to regain its double-digit lead, 13-2.
- The top of the sixth saw the Knights use a pair of RBI doubles to cut into the lead, 13-6.
- In the bottom of the seventh, Dagnello plated Welsh with his second sacrifice fly of the afternoon as the Lions would go on and clinch the victory, 14-6.
Top Performances
- Burriesci tallied three hits, three runs scored, and three RBI.
- Welsh, Gonchar, and Larkin totaled two hits and two RBI apiece with Welsh scoring three times.
- Dagnello knocked in three runs.
- On the mound, graduate student Ryan Hynes tossed six innings allowing five earned runs to improve to 6-0 on the campaign.
- Sophomore Thomas Charlwood recorded his third save of the season tossing three innings of shut out baseball.
Up Next
The Lions return to the diamond Friday, May 9 to face third-seeded Mercy in game four of the tournament in the winners bracket. First-pitch against the Mavericks is slated for 1:00 p.m.
