Baseball Wins Second Straight; Defeats St. Peter's, 7-3

3/28/06 -- Sophomore Danny Etkin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had two hits, including the go-ahead RBI single in the sixth as the Long Island University baseball team fought back from an early deficit to defeat St. Peter’s, 7-3, at LIU Field on Tuesday afternoon.

Senior Sean Durkin (Damascus, Md.) also had two hits and scored two runs while junior Orlando Cruz (White Plains, N.Y.) came up with a big two-run double to knot the score in the sixth.

With one out in the third, shortstop Jose Gonzalez gave the Peacocks a 1-0 lead with an opposite field home run that just cleared the right field fence. St. Peter’s would add an unearned run in the inning to boost its lead to 2-0.

The Blackbirds would take advantage of miscues in the fourth inning, as two errors led to an unearned run to make the score 2-1.

After an RBI single by Frank Pacifico put the visitors up 3-1 in the fifth, the Blackbirds’ bats came alive in the bottom of the sixth. A two-out, opposite field line drive off the wall by Cruz scored both sophomore Dan Pirillo (Marlboro, N.Y.) and Durkin to tie the game at three apiece. Etkin then stepped to the plate and sent a 2-1 pitch over the shortstop’s head to give LIU its first lead of the game, 4-3.

Three insurance runs in the eighth, provided by an RBI single by Etkin and a two-out, two-run double by senior Pete Orsi (Brooklyn, N.Y.), ended the scoring.

Junior Ryan Ekberg (Carmel, N.Y.) picked up the win in relief for LIU while Orsi pitched two scoreless innings to notch the save, his first this season.

The Blackbirds are back in action on Wednesday, Mar. 29 as they battle Rider on the road at 3:00 p.m.