Game 1: Farmingdale State - 11, St. Joseph's-Brooklyn - 1 (F/8)
Game 2: Farmingdale State - 10, St. Joseph's-Brooklyn - 1
Farmingdale, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State baseball team picked up two Skyline victories over St. Joseph's-Brooklyn this afternoon by scores of 11-1 and 10-1. Junior right fielder Vincent Rice (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) finished 3-for-5 on the day with a solo homerun over the left field fence in the second game.
After FSC (20-5, 9-1 Skyline) senior pitcher Matthew Constantine (West Babylon, N.Y.) threw a 1-2-3 first inning, the Rams tallied four runs in the bottom of the inning of game one. With two outs and the bases loaded, sophomore designated hitter Ryan DePalma (Albertson, N.Y.) hit a two-run single to give FSC a two-run lead. The next batter, junior left fielder Vincent Napolitano (Bellmore, N.Y.), tallied a two RBI double over the left fielder's head to give Farmingdale State the 4-0 advantage.
The game remained 4-0 until the top of the fifth when St. Joe's-Brooklyn (10-12-1, 3-9 Skyline) senior shortstop Adam Schwartz (Staten Island, N.Y.) recorded an RBI triple to right center to cut their deficit to three.
The Rams responded in the bottom of the inning as Rice hit a leadoff double before freshman catcher Patrick Leach (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) walked. Two batters later, Napolitano drove in Rice with an RBI groundout to put FSC in front, 5-1. During the next at-bat, Leach stole third and scored on a wild pitch to take a 6-1 advantage.
In both the sixth and seventh innings, Farmingdale State added a pair of runs to go up 10-1 before sophomore Joey Barbuto (North Babylon, N.Y.) registered an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to give FSC the 10-run lead and 11-1 run-rule victory.
Napolitano led the way offensively for the Rams as he recorded two hits, a walk and three runs batted in. Conti finished with a pair of hits, one RBI and two runs, while Rice went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. DePalma tallied a hit and two runs batted in, while both Leach and senior shortstop Shawn Blasberg (Sound Beach, N.Y.) recorded a triple and two runs scored apiece.
Constantine (W, 5-1) picked up his fifth win of the year after pitching 6.2 innings of one-run ball and striking out a season-high eight batters.
FSC started quickly in the second game as they registered two runs in the bottom of the first. Junior center fielder Nick Attardi (Smithtown, N.Y.) led off the inning with a base hit and later scored on a groundout by Blasberg. Farmingdale State added their second run on the homerun to left field by Rice.
Leading 4-0 after scoring a pair of unearned runs in the second, the Rams used a Napolitano RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Leach to go in front, 6-0.
The Rams added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth on a single by senior third baseman Jason Conti (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) to score junior second baseman Tyler Schrimpf (Miller Place, N.Y.) and a wild pitch to score Brandon O'Neill (North Babylon, N.Y.).
FSC went up 10-0 on back-to-back RBI groundouts by freshman Jayden Ippolito (Holtsville, N.Y.) and sophomore Cam Alfano (Yaphank, N.Y.) in the bottom of the sixth.
Senior Logan Hicks (Ekron, KY) (2.0 IP, 1 H), junior Jimmy Mattera (West Islip, N.Y.) (W, 2-0, 3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K), and senior Ryan Mallon (Deer Park, N.Y.) (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 K) allowed just one run combined over the seven innings as Farmingdale State went on for the 10-1 game two victory.
Attardi ended 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored, while Schrimpf tallied two hits and two runs. Rice was 1-for-2 with his homerun and a walk and Napolitano had a hit and an RBI in the second game.
The Rams next step out of conference play when they travel to #10 The College of New Jersey for a single game on Tuesday, April 9th at 3:30 p.m.
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