Sean Meenaghan — Photo Editor
The SCSU Owls split the doubleheader against Le Moyne College. They would win the first game 7-4, and drop the second game by the opposity score of 4-7. The Owls took an early lead in game one with timely hits despite an injury that took out starting pitcher Chris Zbin.
Zbin, who rolled through the first five innings with only two earned runs and eight strikeouts, took a sharp line drive back to his pitching hand. Without even throwing a warm-up pitch Zbin was taken out.
Head coach Tim Shea said it was for precaution.
“We had to take him out,” Shea said. “He couldn’t feel it; he couldn’t squeeze the baseball. Hopefully it’s not broken. Hopefully he’ll be back in seven days for his next start.”
Zbin said he didn’t seem too worried about the injury.
“The hand is still sore right now,” Zbin said. “But it’s nothing too serious—just jammed it. But I’ll be fine.”
With hitters being in a 0-2 hole, Zbin said he utilized his curve ball in these situations.
“I always try to have batters chase my 0-2 curveball,” Zbin said. “Hoping they would swing and miss.”
Going into the game, Zbin said he knew he needed to stay ahead in every count.
“This week I wanted to pound the strike zone, get ahead of batters,” Zbin said. “I knew they were a good hitting team, batting .306 as a team. Just wanted to get ahead and get batters out.”
Shea said he is happy with what his team showed in game one.
“I think they did a great job,” Shea said. “Le Moyne came in a very hot team, a very talented team, dropped down from division one last year. It was a good test for us. Our guys performed. They came out and did what they had to do.”
Freshman reliever Pat Egan stepped in for the injured Zbin and pitched three and two thirds of shutout baseball, striking out three and only allowing one hit.
Senior Greg Pacelli stayed hot throughout the game, going 2-for-4, driving in two and scoring a run.
Shea said Pacelli has stepped up since the injury to sophomore catcher T.J. Shea.
“Greg [Pacelli] has been doing a great job,” Shea said. “He’s getting very comfortable especially offensively now that he is playing every day. He’s putting some good swings on the ball, and he’s doing a great job for us on defense. I couldn’t ask for much more. The kid is doing a great great job for us.”
Pacelli said he saw the ball well in game one but the win was a team effort.
“I got good pitches,” Pacelli said. “Everyone has produced throughout the season, and I think we’ve done that throughout the year. We’ve gotten a big hit from everybody in a different game. From a team perspective everyone has to contribute.”
Pacelli said he tried to work with the home plate umpire who throughout the game was calling a tight strike zone.
“Every pitch the was on the plate or around the plate—[I] just tried to stick it and give him the best look he could get so we could make a determination whether it was a ball or a strike. That’s all you can do. Some umpires have different zones; some are big, some are small. You just have to adjust through every one and get through it.”
Pacelli said for game two, pitchers are going to need to hit their spots.
“Like any other hitters, you’re just going to need to put the ball where you need to put it. You can’t be putting the ball over the plate. [You] have to get ahead, work both sides of the plate, keep the ball down and get any hitter out that way.”
