Farmingdale State - 5, Baruch - 4
Farmingdale, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State baseball team hosted non-conference opponent Baruch College this afternoon and earned a 5-4 victory. FSC trailed 4-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning and used RBI's from junior right fielder Vincent Napolitano (Bellmore, N.Y.) and sophomore catcher Ryan DePalma (Albertson, N.Y.) to lead them to the come-from-behind win.
The Rams (15-5) opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. After loading the bases with none out, Napolitano tallied a sacrifice fly to score DePalma. The next batter, junior center fielder Nick Attardi (Smithtown, N.Y.) tallied an RBI groundout to put FSC ahead, 2-0. The Rams added their third run of the inning on the basepath. Sophomore Joey Barbuto (North Babylon, N.Y.) stole second base and junior Tyler Schrimpf (Miller Place, N.Y.) sprinted home on the throw down.
Still trailing 3-0, Baruch (6-10) loaded the bases with one out in the top of the fourth inning. Farmingdale State junior pitcher Nicholas Rooney (Ridge, N.Y.) would quickly end the threat by forcing the next batter to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to maintain the 3-0 advantage.
In the fifth, the first two Bearcats hitters reached base on back-to-back errors before an RBI single by sophomore right fielder Davic Capellan (Bronx, N.Y.) cut their deficit to 3-1. Baruch would tie the game at 3-3 two batters later after a sacrifice fly and a throwing error.
Still knotted at 3-3 in the top of the seventh, the Bearcats put runners on second and third with none out. After a pop out, Farmingdale State intentionally walked the next batter to load the bases. Senior catcher Gerardo Roque (Corona, N.Y.) would follow and be hit by a pitch to force in a run to go in front, 4-3. Rams' senior Ryan Mallon (Deer Park, N.Y.) entered to pitch and registered a double play to get out of the bases loaded jam.
In the bottom of the seventh, junior first baseman Morgan McCarthy (Oceanside, N.Y.) reached base on a single through the left side and Napolitano followed with an RBI double to tie the game. DePalma was the next batter and he registered a single to bring Napolitano around to score and put FSC ahead, 5-4.
Mallon (W, 1-0) would hold the Bearcats scoreless the rest of the way as Farmingdale State went on for the 5-4 win.
DePalma tallied two hits, a run scored and the game-winning RBI single, while McCarthy was 2-for-3 with a walk and one run scored. Junior left fielder Cam Alfano (Yaphank, N.Y.) added two hits and a run scored and Napolitano was 1-for-3 with an RBI double and a run scored in the victory.
Baruch was led by Capellan, who had two hits, two runs and an RBI.
The FSC baseball team next hosts Lehman College for a non-conference game on Wednesday, April 3rd at 3:30 p.m.
*****