Mavericks Split at Concordia in ECC Opening Doubleheader
NCAA Division II Baseball Result
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Mavericks Split at Concordia in ECC Opening Doubleheader
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Mike Grassano |
BRONXVILLE, NY - The Mercy College baseball team split a doubleheader at Concordia in its first East Coast Conference (ECC) action of the 2009 campaign. The Mavericks took the opener 5-1 and fell 3-1 in game two.
Junior Marc Dern (Valley Stream, NY) went 4-for-7 on the day, including a 3-for-4 effort in game one. Junior Mike Grassano (Valley Stream, NY) was 2-for-4 in the opener, including his team-leading fourth home run of the season that put the Mavericks ahead for good.
The first contest went scoreless until Mercy (6-5, 1-1 ECC) broke through for a run in the top of the seventh inning. Senior Chris Pannullo (Dix Hills, NY) led off with a double and Grassano followed with an RBI single down the left field line.
Concordia (11-14-1, 4-2 ECC) got the run back in the bottom of the eighth, taking advantage of a leadoff walk and an infield error to knot the game at 1-1.
Grassano came to the plate with one out in the ninth and delivered his blast over the left field fence to give Mercy a 2-1 lead. The Mavericks then tacked on three more, getting run scoring hits from senior Ken Mundy (Valley Stream, NY), sophomore Michael Ferrante (Long Beach, NY), and sophomore Graig Lauricella (N. Massapequa, NY).
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Steve Merslich |
Freshman Ray Thaisz (Staten Island, NY), who had come on in relief of junior southpaw Steve Merslich (Flushing, NY) in the eighth, set the Clippers down in order on three ground balls to close out his third win of the season. Merslich went the first 7 1/3 innings, yielding only a pair of singles, striking out four and giving up just the one unearned run in a no-decision.
The Mavericks struck first again in game two, this time with a run in the top of the third on a Ferrante base hit that plated Dern from third base with two outs.
Senior right-hander Matt Moreno (Harrison, NY) held Concordia scoreless through three innings, but the Clippers pushed across two runs in the fourth, one of them unearned to take a 2-1 lead.
Concordia added its third run in the sixth on an RBI single off the bat of Michael Pompa (Carmel, NY) and starter Jose Aquino (Bronx, NY) tossed a perfect seventh to seal the decision.
The Mavericks and Clippers will complete their three-game series on Sunday, March 29 at Mercy College, beginning at 1 p.m.
