Farmingdale State - 7, NYU - 3
Farmingdale, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State baseball team hosted non-conference opponent New York University this evening for a non-conference game in their regular season finale and won, 7-3. The Rams finish the season with an overall record of 23-12 and head into this weekend's Skyline Playoffs as the #1 seed.
Tied 0-0 in the top of the third, the Violets (27-12) loaded the bases with two outs on a pair of walks and a hit by pitch. The next batter, sophomore right fielder Coltrane Tait (Newport Beach, Cali.), grounded out to short as FSC sophomore Vincent Rice (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) escaped the jam to keep the game scoreless.
In the bottom of the inning, senior third baseman Nicholas Soriano (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) led off with a single to left field and stole second base. Two batters later, junior center fielder Joseph Roche (Westbury, N.Y.) hit an RBI single to left field and moved to third on an error. Junior left fielder Anthony Gigante (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) was the next batter and he grounded out to second to score Roche and give Farmingdale State a 2-0 advantage.
NYU responded in the fourth, as they used an RBI single from freshman shortstop Francis Prior (Caldwell, N.J.) and a sacrifice fly from freshman third baseman Chris Cassandra (Freehold, N.J.) to tie the game at 2-2.
After a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth by Rams sophomore first baseman Ernie Geraci (East Moriches, N.Y.), a one-out RBI single to right by junior shortstop Shawn Blasberg (Sound Beach, N.Y.) put FSC ahead 3-2.
Farmingdale State added a run in the fifth on an RBI double by Rice which scored sophomore right fielder Devin Caybasi (St. James, N.Y.) to go up by two.
Leading 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth, the Rams increased their advantage to 7-2 on a two-run single to center by Gigante to score both senior catcher Kenneth Johntry (Yaphank, N.Y.) and Roche.
After the Violets scored a run on a wild pitch in the seventh to cut the deficit to 7-3, a pair of walks and another wild pitch put runners on second and third with no outs. Senior Brandon Ernest (Owings, MD) would enter the game to pitch and forced the next three batters to pop out, fly out and foul out, maintaining the Rams four-run lead.
Each team would be held scoreless the rest of the way as the Rams won the non-conference game, 7-3.
Gigante finished 1-for-4 with three runs batted in, while Roche tallied a hit, a stolen base, two runs scored and an RBI. Soriano went 2-for-2 with a stolen base and Caybasi, Geraci and sophomore second baseman Tyler Schrimpf (Miller Place, N.Y.) each had one hit and one run scored.
Rams sophomore Joe Marino (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) (4-2) earned the win, pitching three no-hit innings in relief and striking out four.
For NYU, junior designated hitter Cooper Halpern (Pacific Palisades, Cali.) was 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Prior recorded a hit, one run scored and one RBI.
Violets senior pitcher Cameron Serapilio-Frank (Rochester, N.Y.) (8-2) took the loss after allowing four runs in five innings.
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