BASEBALL SPLITS NE-10 DOUBLEHEADER WITH SAINT ANSELM
PLEASANTVILLE, NY - The Pace University baseball team split a Northeast-10 Conference baseball doubleheader against the Hawks of Saint Anselm College today at Finnerty Field. The Setters took game one, 4-0, behind a pitching gem from junior Zach Dayton (North Falmouth, MA/Falmouth), while the Hawks earned the split edging out Pace in game two, 7-6. Pace moves to 16-10 overall on the season, 6-1 in the NE-10, while St. Anselm goes to 6-14 and 2-7 in conference play.
In the opener, Dayton led Pace to victory tossing 8 2/3 scoreless innings scattering six hits and allowing two walks, while striking out six. Sophomore Frank Luongo (West Harrison, NY/Harrison) struck out the only batter he faced to complete the shutout.
The Setters struck first in game one scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Sophomore Chris Spatkowski (Bristol, CT/Bristol Eastern) drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Senior Jack Cawley (Bronx, NY/Iona Prep) would reach base as he was hit by a pitch. Spatkowski and Cawley would then advance a base on a double steal, as sophomore Vinny Dammann (Mullica Hill, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) drew a walk to load the bases. Sophomore Aaron Zrenda (Niantic, CT/Loomis Chaffee Prep) would also work the count and draw a bases loaded walk that scored Spatkowski. Senior Neil Ross' (Cortland Manor, NY/Panas) sacrifice fly to centerfield brought home Cawley. Pace would later score their third and fourth runs of the game in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
Acting as the road team for game two, the Setters opened the game scoring a run in the top of the first, as Zrenda's RBI single to right field brought home junior Andre Licensky (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull). The game would remain 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth, which saw the Hawks, put up five runs on three hits and three walks in the inning. Evan Kelleher (Haverhill, MA) and Nick Moreau Manchester, NH) both had RBI singles, while Dave Wirkus (Orange, CT) drew a bases loaded walk and Adam Hussey (Danvers, MA) brought home a run with an RBI groundout to third. Pace would answer quickly in their next at bat as Cawley's grand slam down the left field line tied the game at five.
The game would remain knotted at five until the seventh, as St. Anselm plated their final two runs of the game, taking advantage of a pair of Pace errors to take a 7-5 advantage. Pace would get their final run of the day in the eighth as sophomore JJ Conrad's (Hamburg, NJ/Wallkill Valley) RBI single brought home Ross.
Freshman Mike O'Rourke (Norwood, MA) picked up the win for the Hawks pitching two innings of relief allowing one run on two hits and walking one. Sophomore David Giarrusso (Cranston, RI) picked up the save shutting the door in the ninth.
The Setters are scheduled to play tomorrow, Friday April
4th, weather permitting, as they will play host to
conference foe Bentley College. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30
p.m. at Finnerty Field. St. Anselm will travel to Bryant University
on Saturday, April 5th.
