Jones’ Walk-Off Three-Run Homer Lifts Long Island Past Quinnipiac

(Box Score - Game 1)
(Box Score - Game 2)

4/28/07 -- First baseman James Jones (Brooklyn, N.Y.) drove a two-out, two-strike pitch far over the right-field wall to give the Long Island University baseball team a 9-7 com-from-behind walk-off victory over Quinnipiac in the first game of a Northeast Conference doubleheader. The Blackbirds lost the second game of the double dip by a 13-5 margin. Designated hitter Orlando Cruz (White Plains, N.Y.) hit a home run in each game and finished the day 5-for-6 with three RBIs.

In the first game, both teams scored in each of their first two innings. The Bobcats plated a run off starter Mike Maynard (Staten Island, N.Y.) on a first-inning single by Jeff Mainetti. Long Island (8-26, 3-9 NEC) answered back when Cruz hit the first pitch he saw over the wall in right center to give the Blackbirds a 2-0 lead. Quinnipiac reclaimed the lead with three runs in the second on a two-run triple by Ryan Rizzo and a run-scoring single by Tim Binkoski. The Blackbirds tied the score at 4-4 on back-to-back RBI singles by third baseman Gerard Tingos (Staten Island, N.Y.) and rightfielder Robbie Rowen (Rosendale, N.Y.) in the bottom of the frame.

Long Island took a 5-4 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly by leftfielder Frank DiMasi (Staten Island, N.Y.). The Bobcats (16-12-1, 9-5) tied the game once again in the fourth when Mainetti hit another RBI single. The Blackbirds took a 6-5 edge in the bottom of the fifth when centerfielder Marcus Wynn (Plainfield, N.J.) drove in a run with a single. Wynn went 3-for-4 and scored a run.

After pitching a solid fifth inning, Long Island reliever Kenny Cedel (Staten Island, N.Y.) was cruising in the sixth until, with a runner on first, Mainetti took him deep on a 1-2 pitch with two out to put Quinnipiac up 7-6. After back-to-back two-out singles by Cruz and Wynn in the bottom of the seventh, Jones came up and hit his game-winner off Bobcats reliever Tyler Brett. Cedel got the win, improving to 1-5, while the loss dropped Brett to 1-2.

In the second game, Quinnipiac tagged starter Adam Sauter (Perry Hall, Md.) for five runs in the first two innings. Cruz put the Blackbirds on the board in the second with his second homer of the day, making the score 5-1. Sauter (1-4) gave up a leadoff homer to second baseman Randy Gress in the third, marking the end of his day.

Quinnipiac added two more runs in the fifth on an RBI triple by Gress and another RBI single by Mainetti. Gress hit for the cycle, doubling in the first inning and singling in the seventh. It was the second time an opposing player hit for the cycle against Long Island this season.

Long Island plated three runs in the sixth. Second baseman Trey Bell (Georgetown, Del.) hit a two-run single with one out. The Blackbirds scored their other run when shortstop Greg DeSantis (Bridgewater, N.J.) hit into what should have been a fielder’s choice. First baseman Mainetti threw the ball away trying to get the runner at second, allowing pinch runner Johnnie Neckar (Fort Myers, Fla.) to score.

Quinnipiac added five more runs in the seventh to put the game further out of reach. Bobcats starter Andy Mayer went the full seven innings for his fourth complete game of the season. He improved to 5-2.

The teams will resume their four-game series with a doubleheader on Sunday, April 28. The first game, scheduled for nine innings, is slated for a noon start. A seven-inning game will follow.