Game 1: Farmingdale State - 8, Mount Saint Mary - 5
Game 2: Farmingdale State - 6, Mount Saint Mary - 3
Newburgh, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State baseball team swept Mount Saint Mary in a conference doubleheader on Sunday and earned the #1 seed for the upcoming Skyline Playoffs. The Rams will now host the conference tournament.
Freshman center fielder Nick Attardi (Smithtown, N.Y.) led off the game with a triple to right center and later scored on a MSMC (13-21, 7-6) fielding error to give the Rams (18-12, 12-2) a 1-0 lead. After Joshua Shapiro (Melville, N.Y.) singled through the left side and advanced to third on a passed ball, an RBI groundout by Ryan Osborne (Westhampton Beach, N.Y.) put FSC on top, 2-0.
Leading 2-1 in the top of the third, the Rams regained a two-run lead on a sacrifice fly to center by Christopher Reilly (Levittown, N.Y.) which scored Shapiro.
With bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the fourth, the Knights used a 2 RBI double down the left field line from Kristopher Fragomeni (Beacon, N.Y.) to tie the game at 3-3. Sophomore pitcher Blake Keenan (Fishkill, N.Y.) followed with a 2 RBI single to center to give Mount Saint Mary a 5-3 advantage.
The Rams responded in the top of the sixth as Attardi hit an RBI single through the right side and then two batters later Shapiro followed with a 2 RBI single through the left side to take a 6-5 lead. Osborne brought the FSC advantage to 7-5 with an RBI single down the left field line that scored Brandon Snow (Owings, MD).
Snow scored the final run in eighth on a wild pitch as Farmingdale State captured game one, 8-5.
Shapiro finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and 2 RBI, while Attardi was 2-for-5, scored twice and had a run batted in. Freshman third baseman Anthony Gigante (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) added two hits, a run scored and a stolen base for the Rams.
Sophomore pitcher David Otero Jr. (Shelton, Conn.) picked up his team-leading fifth win of the season after tossing 4.1 innings of relief. Senior Kevin Cashman (Hicksville, N.Y.) earned the save after allowing no runs on three hits over the final two innings of the game.
Mount Saint Mary was led by Fragomeni and Keenan who each had three hits and 2 RBI.
In game two, the Rams took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an Osborne RBI double to left field. An RBI groundout from Gigante in the second scored Domenic Palumbo (Plainview, N.Y.) and put FSC ahead, 2-0.
With one out and bases loaded in the top of the third, Reilly was hit by a pitch and Palumbo followed with a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 4-0.
Farmingdale State led 5-1 entering the bottom of the sixth and allowed two runs but earned the 6-3 victory in the second game of the doubleheader.
Attardi was 2-for-3 with a run scored and two stolen bases, while snow went 1-for-4 with a run scored and stole two bases.
Cashman, who earned the save in game one, recorded the win in game two after three innings of relief allowing no earned runs on two hits. Freshman Matthew Constantine (West Babylon, N.Y.) pitched the final 1.1 innings, allowing only two hits to record the save.
FSC next will close out conference play when they host Maritime in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 30th at noon.
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