Mercy College Baseball Takes Tennessee Temple 6-4, Falls to Mt. Vernon Nazarene 5-1
Baseball Result
Monday, March 23, 2009
Mercy College Baseball Takes Tennessee Temple 6-4, Falls to Mt.
Vernon Nazarene 5-1
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Michael Grassano |
LAKELAND, FL - The Mercy College baseball team split a pair of non-conference games on Monday, falling to Mt. Vernon Nazarene by a score of 5-1 in the morning before bouncing back with a 6-4 victory over Tennessee Temple in the afternoon. Both games were played at Southeastern University (FL). The Mavericks are now 5-3 on the year.
Junior Michael Grassano (Valley Stream, NY) continued his hot hitting with a home run in each game and a single in game two, knocking in four runs on the day. Sophomore Michael Ferrante (Long Beach, NY) went 3-for-5 in the second game for the Mavericks. Senior right-hander Matt Anzivino (Miami, FL) notched his first win of the season.
In the opener, Mt. Vernon Nazarene (13-2) pushed a run across in the second inning and three more in the third to build a 4-0 lead. Mercy got its first hit of the contest in the bottom of the third, a two-out double from junior Justin Muscarella (Plainedge, NY). Sophomore Graig Lauricella (N. Massapequa, NY) followed with a walk, but Cougars' starter Jason Decker got a ground ball to end the threat.
Trailing 5-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Grassano led off with a blast over the left field fence to scratch the shutout, but Decker got the next three batters to end the game with a two-hitter.
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Matt Anzivino |
Game two saw the Mavericks score in each of the first three innings. They got three in the top of the first, one on an RBI single from sophomore Matt Walsh (Staten Island, NY) and the other two on Grassano's second round-tripper of the day. Junior Vinnie Tesoriero (Glen Head, NY) plated the run in the second and Grassano added an RBI single in the third to give Mercy a 5-0 margin.
The Crusaders got one back in the bottom of the third on a solo home run off the bat of Robby McIntire, and cut the deficit to 5-4 with three runs in the fifth.
The Mavericks took the one-run lead into the ninth when junior Kenny Tyson (Miami, FL) led off with a solo home run over the center field fence to add some insurance. Walsh, who had come on in relief in the eighth, then closed the door in the bottom of the ninth for his first save of the season.
Anzivino gave Mercy a strong outing, allowing just two earned runs over seven innings, scattering seven hits and striking out six batters. Walsh did not allow a hit and struck out three batters in two innings of relief.
The Mavericks will complete their southern swing on Tuesday with a single game at Barry University, currently ranked No. 8 in the nation.
