Auburndale, Fla. - The FSC baseball team played their final two games at the RussMatt Invitational down in Florida and went 1-1 with a victory over Thomas (Maine) College. The Rams finish their trip 5-3 and now stand at 7-4 overall.
Tuesday, March 19th
Despite jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning on Tuesday, Farmingdale State fell to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 8-5.
The first three FSC batters of the game reached base safely before Rams' junior right fielder Vincent Rice (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) tallied an RBI single to score freshman catcher Patrick Leach (Rockville Centre, N.Y.). After a run scored on a wild pitch to put Farmingdale State ahead 2-0, FSC used a sacrifice fly from junior first baseman Steven Burke (North Babylon, N.Y.) and an RBI single by junior left fielder Vincent Napolitano (Bellmore, N.Y.) to take a 4-0 advantage.
The Pointers answered in the bottom of the first inning with a pair of run-scoring doubles to close within one, 4-3. Stevens Point was able to tie the game in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly.
Neither team would score until the bottom of the seventh inning when the Pointers used a run-scoring triple and two RBI singles. FSC would only manage to score one more run as they fell, 8-5.
Leach finished 1-for-3 with a triple and a pair of walks, while Rice had two hits, one walk, an RBI and one run scored. Burke had a double and one run scored in the loss.
Wednesday, March 20th
Farmingdale State cruised to a 13-3 win over Thomas (Maine) on Wednesday.
The Rams used a pair of RBI singles from Burke and senior first baseman Shawn Blasberg (Sound Beach, N.Y.) in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 2-0 advantage. Leading 3-1 in the third, FSC extended their lead to three with a sacrifice fly by Burke to score junior center fielder Nick Attardi (Smithtown, N.Y.). Burke drove in his third run of the game in the fifth on another single to put Farmingdale State ahead 5-1.
The Rams led 6-2 and used a six-run bottom of the sixth to take a commanding 12-2 advantage. Sophomore right fielder Cam Alfano (Yaphank, N.Y.) and senior third baseman Jason Conti (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) each recorded two-run singles in the inning.
Leading 12-3, Farmingdale State's final run came in the bottom of the eighth as sophomore designated hitter Ryan DePalma (Albertson, N.Y.) hit an RBI double to give FSC the 13-3 eight-inning, run-rule victory.
Burke was 2-for-2 with three RBI's, two runs scored and one stolen base, while Conti had two hits, one double and three runs batted in. DePalma was 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBI's and Alfano had two runs batted in and one run scored in the win.
Rams' junior pitcher Anthony Visconte (East Islip, N.Y.) (1-1) earned the win after throwing 2.1 scoreless innings in relief.
Farmingdale State next returns home to open their Skyline Conference schedule. FSC will host Merchant Marine for a doubleheader on Saturday, March 23rd beginning at noon.
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