Baseball Handed a Pair of Gutwrenching Losses by Mount St. Mary's

(Game 1 boxscore) / (Game 2 boxscore)

5/14/05 --Long Island was detitle a pair of Northeast Conference losses, 3-2 and 8-5, to Mount St, Mary’s by allowing the go-ahead runs in the seventh inning of each contest in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Mountaineers (18-26, 12-10 NEC) in game one got a two-out single from Daniel Fowler, who took second on a single from Brandon Woods. Mike Gioioso followed with an RBI single to left that scored Fowler for the final margin.

Mount St. Mary’s grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first on a fielder’s choice grounder from Eric Smith and doubled its advantage in the second on a bloop single to right by Stephan Fay.

The Blackbirds (12-25, 8-15) crept within 2-1 in the fourth on an RBI groundout from junior Trey Bell (Georgetown, Del.), scoring freshman Bryan Burke (Lindenhurst, N.Y.). They tied it in the sixth when a grounder by freshman Danny Etkin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) could not be turned into a double play, plating sophomore Robert Rowen (Rosendale, N.Y.).

Steve Stone (2-4), who retired the Blackbirds in order in the seventh, struck out two over 1 2/3 hitless relief innings. Starter Justin Davis struck out seven, allowing two runs and three hits over 5 1/3 innings with Gioioso and Fowler each rapping two of the Mountaineers’ 10 hits.

Carmel, N.Y. sophomore Richard Moran (4-2) once again pitched solidly but could not get the run support. He yielded three runs and 10 hits over seven innings with a strikeout.

Mount St. Mary’s in game two was down to its last strike in the seventh inning when Josh Vittek singled up the middle for a 5-5 tie. Adam Schlenoff laced a two-run double to left center and Fay added an RBI single to right center to close the scoring.

After Joe Kotula lined an RBI single in the fourth to give the Mount a 1-0 lead, LIU responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Junior Nate Olson (Poland, Maine) drilled a two-run double to right and freshman Daniel Pirillo (Marlboro, N.Y.) had an RBI single.

The Mountaineers moved ahead, 4-3, in the fifth on RBI hits from Gioioso, Smith and Vittek before the Blackbirds countered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead. Bell reached on a run-scoring fielder’s choice as Rowen broke up a potential double play and Olson added an RBI single.

Stone struck out two and yielded just one hit over 2 1/3 relief innings. Smith finished with three hits for Mount St. Mary’s, which stayed alive in its quest to reach the NEC Tournament.

Morristown, N.J. product Andy Yawger (1-3) allowed four runs and four hits over two relief innings. Rowen and Olson closed with two hits apiece for LIU, which was eliminated from NEC Tournament contention.

The team close the three-game series Sunday at 12:00 pm, also at Narrows Complex.