Auburndale, Fla. - The Farmingdale State baseball team played their final four games at the RussMatt Invitational in Auburndale, Florida. The Rams earned a pair of wins, splitting a doubleheader with Lancaster Bible and earning a victory over Keystone. The Rams finish their trip with a 3-4 record and are now 5-6 overall on the season.
Monday, March 14th
The Rams played Lancaster Bible in a 7-inning doubleheaderon Monday.
In the first game, FSC opened the scoring in the bottom of the first on a two-run single by junior third baseman Michael Iacobellis (Seaford, N.Y.). Just two batters later, a sacrifice fly by freshman first baseman Richard Apollo Jr. (Seaford, N.Y.) put the Rams ahead, 3-0.
Farmingdale State led 6-1 and put two runners on in the bottom of the fifth. Apollo Jr. stepped up to the plate and hit a 3-run homerun over the left field fence to give FSC a 9-1 lead.
Rams' freshman pitcher Jordan Lambert (Plainview, N.Y.) (W, 1-1) did not allow a run in the final two innings as he earned the complete game victory.
Apollo Jr. led the charge with four runs batted in, while Iacobellis had two RBI's. Freshman left fielder Justin DiMartino (Bethpage, N.Y.) was 2-for-3 with two runs scored in the win.
In game two, FSC was down 3-1 in the top of the sixth and used a two-run single from Lambert to knot the game at 3-3. Lancaster Bible answered with a five-run bottom of the sixth as they went on for the 8-4 victory.
Rams' freshman pitcher Alex Russo (Albertson, N.Y.) led Farmingdale State tossing 4.2 innings, allowing no runs and four hits and striking out six.
Tuesday, March 15th
On Tuesday, Farmingdale State played Simpson (Iowa) and fell, 9-7, in a rain-shortened game.
After allowing four runs in the top of the first, the Rams cut their deficit in half, scoring on a wild pitch and a ground out to make it a 4-2 game.
The Storm increased their lead to 8-2 after scoring a run in the second and three in the third.
Trailing 9-3 in the fifth, a sacrifice fly by Apollo Jr. and a passed ball allowed the Rams to close within four.
In the seventh, Apollo Jr. hit a solo homerun before a run-scoring error made it 9-7.
The game was called due to rain with two outs in the top of the eighth as Simpson picked up the rain-shortened 9-7 victory.
Apollo Jr. had a homerun, a walk, two RBI's and one run scored, while both Vincent Napolitano (Bellmore, N.Y.) and Nolan White (Miller Place, N.Y.) notched two hits and one run scored apiece.
Freshman Justin Cordero (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) threw 4.2 innings in relief and allowed just one run and three hits for FSC.
Wednesday, March 16th
In the final game of their spring break trip, Farmingdale State played Keystone (Penn.) and earned a 7-3 victory.
Farmingdale State used back-to-back walks from Napolitano and sophomore right fielder Bobby Pollock (Manorville, N.Y.) and a DiMartino hit-by-pitch to load the bases with none out in the top of the first. Lambert batted next and hit a two-run single up the middle to give the Rams an early 2-0 advantage.
Later in the inning, a double steal allowed Lambert to score before Iacobellis hit an RBI single to score White and put FSC on top, 4-0.
In the third, White hit a triple to bring home Apollo Jr. as the Rams went ahead, 5-0.
Keystone tailed 7-0 in the bottom of the ninth and scored three unearned runs to close within four with two outs.
Junior pitcher Stephen Clancy (Mineola, N.Y.) entered and forced the next batter to fly out as he picked up his first save of the season.
In his first collegiate pitching appearance, freshman Philip Gerard (Patchogue, N.Y.) (W, 1-0) earned the win, throwing 6.2 innings, allowing no earned runs and striking out nine batters.
Offensively, Lambert led the way with three hits, a run scored and two runs batted it. White went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and an RBI, while Pollock had a hit, two walks and two runs scored.
Farmingdale State next returns home to open their Skyline Conference schedule. The Rams will host Maritime for a doubleheader on Saturday, March 26th at noon.
*****