Baseball

Staying Alive! No. 2 Molloy Baseball Defeats No. 3 Southern New Hampshire to Advance to East Regional Final

Uniondale, N.Y. - The second-seeded Molloy baseball team earned a 7-5 victory Friday afternoon at Mitchel Field. The Lions victory improves them to 40-10 on the campaign, staves off elimination, and advances them into the East Regional Final. Southern New Hampshire moves to 41-13 and will play sixth-seeded Felician in an elimination game tomorrow morning.
 
How it Happened
  • After a scoreless first inning, junior Mike Sweeney singled through the left side with the bases loaded to put the Lions on the board, 1-0, in the bottom of the second.
  • Southern New Hampshire responded in the top of the third after JR Bozek singled to knot the contest at one.
  • The bottom of the fourth began with back-to-back singles from senior Sean Serrano and junior Jack Vallario, followed by a sacrifice bunt from senior Jeremy Taggart to put two runners in scoring position with one out.
  • With junior Joe Burriesci at the plate, Vallario and Serrano crossed the plate following consecutive wild pitches to put Molloy ahead, 3-1.
  • The Penmen offense would be limited from the fifth through the seventh, with just two singles, both coming from catcher Kyle Lavigne.
  • As they did in the fourth, the cardinal and white began the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back singles from juniors Mike Sweeney and Brian Sanchez. The duo would execute a double steal through the following at bat to move into scoring position with no outs on the board.
  • Following a Lions strike out, sophomore Steve Mulqueen stepped into the box and ripped a single up the middle to plate two runs to extend the lead, 5-1.
  • Southern New Hampshire answered in the top of the eighth, putting together a three-hit, three-run top of the eighth to shrink the deficit down to one, 5-4. The Penmen saw the runs come in on two run scoring singles and a ground out.
  • The cardinal and white collected two big insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Vallario led off the inning with a double before stealing third base with one out on the board. 
  • Two batters later, Burriesci was robbed of a single by way of a spectacular diving play from SNHU short stop Casey Cumiskey, but would reach via a fielders choice to setting the Lions up with runners on first and third.
  • Up next, Sweeney drove a double into the left center gap to plate Vallario to give the Lions a two-run lead, 6-4. Following Sweeey was junior Brian Sanchez who notched a single into left field to bring home Burriesci, extending the lead, 7-4, heading into the ninth.
  • Southern New Hampshire wasted little time posing a threat to closer sophomore Jayden Patel, loading the bases with the first three batters of the inning. Following an infield pop out to record the first out, the Penmen secured a run with a sacrifice fly to shrink the lead, 7-5.
  • The Penmen's clean up hitter would come to the plate representing the go-ahead run, but Patel would induce a game-ending fly out to secure the victory.
Top Performances
  • Sweeney led the afternoon with four hits while driving in two runs.
  • Vallario totaled three hits and three runs scored.
  • Sanchez collected two hits and one RBI.
  • Mulqueen drove in two runs. 
  • On the mound, redshirt junior Mike Knapp improved to 9-1 tossing seven innings allowing four runs on eight hits and striking out four.
  • Patel collected his seventh save of the season surrendering one run on one hit. 
Up Next
Molloy will take on the winner of third-seeded Southern New Hampshire and sixth-seeded Felician for a spot in the East Super Regional in a winner-take-all game Saturday, May 16. First pitch from Mitchel Field is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.