Jennifer Hoffer – Sports Writer –
The Owls baseball team suffered a tough loss against Assumption in Worcester, Massachusetts as they let their 4-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth slip away.
Steve Landell took the mound for the owls in the NorthEast-10 Conference divisional matchup. Landell went five innings, striking out three giving up three runs on five hits.
The Owls trailed in the seventh inning by a score of 3-2. Senior Michael Cleary came to bat with bases loaded. Cleary laced a single to the left side giving the Owls a 4-3 lead heading into the eighth inning.
Will Meade came in to pitch for Mike Yerina who had come into relieve Landell in the sixth inning.
Meade pitched a scoreless eighth, but gave up two hits and one run allowing a run to score, which sent the game to extra innings.
Tyler Albrecht came into the game to pitch the tenth inning. Albrecht only gave up two hits. But a sacrifice fly by Assumption would plate the run and give the Greyhounds the win. Albrecht picked up the loss to go 0-1 on the season.
The Owls took on another NorthEast-10 Conference team as they faced Adelphi University at home.
The Owls were 1-1 on the season against Adelphi entering the game.
The Owls would again falter against Adelphi bringing them to 1-2 against the Panthers on the season.
The Panthers would strike first in the top of the first inning as Yerina gave up two hits and two runs. The Owls would come back with a run in the bottom of the inning, as Cleary would be hit by pitch allowing Nick Baviello to score, tying the game 1-1 entering the second.
Ryan Yerina took the bump for the Owls. He only lasted 3.2 innings while giving up three earned runs. Errors committed by the Owls hurt them, as Adelphi was able to capitalize on those errors and score three runs.
Adelphi would have a 6-1 lead heading into the fifth inning.
The Owls were unable to scratch a run across the board until the bottom of the ninth inning. They were able to get three hits in the inning and scored three runs with one out. But Cleary struck out swinging and Brandon Docimo grounded out to second to end the game. They left one man on base, losing by a final of 7-3.
Despite the loss Yerina is pleased about how the team has been playing.
“We fell short in a few games,” Yerina said, “but it’s still looking positive for us to make a push towards the post season.”
The Owls bounced back on Sunday with a sweep of College of Saint Rose beating them the first game by a score of 2-1 and the second game by a score of 5-0.
The Owls won in great fashion as they got a run across in the twelfth inning to salvage the win 2-1.
And no the boys didn’t win on a hit or a walk. They won on a wild pitch. Nick Baviello got his lead on third and darted home sliding in safe to score the winning run.
It was only right for him to score the run as Baviello led off the twelfth with a line drive single.
Rocco Cundari gave the Owls eight innings in the win giving up only one run on six hits.
Sophomore pitcher Cole Bryant took the mound for the Owls in the second game. He struck out five over eight innings. This gave Bryant his third win of the year.
Senior Michael Cleary would give the Owls their first lead of the game as he laced a double down the left field line allowing Baviello and Docimo to score.
Cleary said he has been very pleased from what he’s seen from the team the past few games.
“We pitched really well this weekend,” Cleary said. “And we played very good defense. Offensively, we were able to take advantage of our opportunities. As the season progresses, though, we need to continue to swing the bat well and drive in runs when we have runners in scoring position.”
