BASEBALL TAKES DOWN CONCORDIA IN DOUBLEHEADER; 5-4, 9-2

Box Score vs. Concordia (Game One) - April 7, 2012

Box Score vs. Concordia (Game Two) - April 7, 2012 

BRONXVILLE, N.Y. (Apr. 7, 2012) - Junior first baseman Erik Pyle (Atlantic Beach, N.Y.) hit a combined 5-of-6, with three RBI and two runs scored on Saturday, as the Molloy College baseball team swept Concordia College, 5-4 and 9-2, in a non-conference twinbill at Clipper Baseball Field in Bronxville, N.Y. Freshman Dino Tomasetti (Hewlett, N.Y.) added a pair of RBI, off 4-for-7 hitting, with four runs scored. With the victories, the Lions have now improved to 12-18 on the year.

Game One - Molloy 5, Concordia (N.Y.) 4

Stuck in a 1-1 tie in the top of the fourth, a Carmine Pellechia (Staten Island, N.Y.) double gave Molloy the lead, and the Lions never looked back. Tomasetti and Pyle led off with back-to-back singles to open the inning. Just one stanza later, the maroon and white tacked on three more runs to earn a 5-1 cushion. Junior catcher Ray McCourt (River Edge, N.J.) and Pyle batted consecutive RBI singles. Tomasetti, who walked before the single by Pyle, later scored off a Concordia infield error.

During the latter half of the fifth, the Clippers looked to rally. A two-run homer by Joe Gallub (Oceanside, N.Y.) trimmed the hole to just 5-3. Then, in the sixth, a lead-off blast by Chris Rutigliano (Wantagh, N.Y.) made it just a one-run contest. The hosts had a chance to win it in the seventh, after retiring the visitors in order in the opening half. However, Rutigiliano hit a batted ball with the bases loaded and two out to shortstop, which was played to second base, ending the contest.

Senior pitcher Chuck Fontana (Staten Island, N.Y.) earned his third victory for Molloy. He surrendered seven hits, four runs and a pair of walks, while striking out an impressive 10 batters, a game-high, over a complete, seven-inning effort.

Game Two - Molloy 9, Concordia (N.Y.) 2

Down 1-0 after one inning of play, the Lions blew the doors wide open in the second with a seven-spot. Tomasetti and Pyle ripped two-RBI hits apiece. Red-shirt freshman John Galanoudis (Farmingdale, N.Y.) added a bases-loaded walk, plating a run. The Clippers (6-25) only managed one more score the rest of the way, via an RBI single up the middle, in the sixth.

Molloy capped the scoring in its half of the seventh, tallying two more runs for good measure. Pellechia had a two-RBI base knock to left, which brought around Pyle and Tomasetti, to account for the scoring.

Sophomore Max Schonfeld (East Meadow, N.Y.) recorded his first win for the Lions. He yielded two hits, and two base on balls, with a run and five strikeouts, in five innings of work. For the season, Schonfeld now sports a noteworthy 2.63 ERA.

Head Coach Joe Fucarino and the Lions return to the diamond on Tuesday (Apr. 10), when they face East Coast Conference nemesis University of Bridgeport at the Mitchel Field Athletic Complex in Uniondale, N.Y. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.