Recap courtesy of Mercy University Sports Information
NIAGARA FALLS, NY – Powered by a game-high two RBI from junior David Bernard Jr. (Schenectady, N.Y./Herkimer CC) and strong pitching performances from freshmen Andre Jenkins (Chester, N.Y./Chester Academy) and Ryan DiNapoli (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown), the No. 3 seeded Mercy University baseball team earned a 5-4 win over No. 2 seeded College of Staten Island in Game One of the ECC Baseball Championship on Thursday afternoon at Sal Maglie Stadium.
BOX SCORE
The Mavericks (29-22) have won two games in a row and win their opening game in the ECC Championship for the first time. Mercy defeats the Dolphins (18-27) for the third time this season. The Mavericks will face the winner of No. 1 Molloy/No. 4 Queens tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Sal Maglie Stadium in Niagara Falls.
Mercy was led by Bernard Jr. who went 1-for-2 with two RBI. Junior John Nisco (Tarrytown, N.Y./Sleepy Hollow) went 2-for-5 with an RBI and senior Alfred Hoti (New York, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Sophomore Peyton Jemison (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) went 2-for-5 with two runs and senior Joseph Gonzalez (Monroe, N.Y./Rockland CC) went 1-for-5 with an RBI. Junior Kolongi Goins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./FDR) went 1-for-3 with a run scored and Jenkins allowed two earned runs in 6.2 innings with four strikeouts to earn his sixth win of the season. DiNapoli pitched 2.1 scoreless innings of relief to earn his fourth save of the year.
Staten Island was led by Chris Polemeni who went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Aidan Kielty allowed one unearned run in 1.0 inning to take the loss.
Mercy took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Jemison led off the game with a single and Nisco reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on first and third. After a strikeout and foul out made two outs in the inning, Bernard Jr. singled home Jemison to give Mercy a 1-0 lead.
The score remained 1-0 until the fourth inning when CSI scored two runs to take a 2-1 lead.
The Mavericks responded with two runs in the fifth inning to retake the lead at 3-2. Goins, Jemison and Nisco singled to load the bases before Gonzalez singled, scoring Goins to make it 2-2. Bernard Jr. later drew a bases-loaded walk to give Mercy a 3-2 lead. The Dolphins recorded a run in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 3-3.
Mercy retook the lead in the sixth inning. Hoti doubled to lead off the inning and later scored on a Nisco triple to left field, giving the Mavericks a 4-3 lead. CSI tied the game again in the bottom of the sixth on a Polemeni RBI single, making it 4-4.
The Mavericks took the lead for good in the seventh with a run on no hits and one CSI error to take a 5-4 lead. Bernard Jr. and junior Sean McAdams (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) walked to lead off the inning and senior Gabe Sanders (Dunedin, Fla./Central Alabama CC) reached on an error by the shortstop to load the bases. Hoti then hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Bernard Jr. to give Mercy a 5-4 lead.
The combination of Jenkins and DiNapoli tossed a scoreless seventh, eighth and ninth innings to give Mercy the 5-4 win.
Mercy had eight hits and one error and Staten Island had nine hits and three errors.