Purchase, N.Y. – Shortstop Brett Bittiger singled home the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning as Pace University defeated the Le Moyne College baseball team, 3-2, on Friday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division action at SUNY Purchase.
The Dolphins started the game's scoring in the first inning on a pair of hits. Freshman designated hitter
Brian Cox (North Kingston, R.I./North Kingston) led off the game with a single up the middle and then moved to second on a walk by junior second baseman
Brett Charbonneau (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker). After a double play, junior shortstop
Dylan Swetman (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) singled through the right side to drive in Cox from third.
Le Moyne doubled its lead in the second inning on three hits. Following one-out singles by junior first baseman
Pat Wright (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) and senior third baseman
Max Nagelsmith (Duanesburg, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy-Albany), senior right fielder
Jeremy Mathers (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger/Onondaga C.C.) singled to left field to knock in Wright.
Pace cut its deficit in half in the bottom of the second as first baseman Tom Midolo led off with a solo home run to right field.
The Setters evened the score in the fourth inning on two hits. Catcher Frank Mayo led off with a single to center, advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches and then scored on a single to right field by Midolo.
Pace took the lead on two hits in the bottom of the eighth. Right fielder Cory Capaldi led off with a single through the left side and then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Bittiger followed with a single to left center to plate Capaldi.
Senior southpaw
Ryan Davis (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) dropped his second straight decision after yielding three runs on six hits over eight innings, while striking out three. Cox, sophomore center fielder
Donato DiNorcia (Naples, Fla./Seacrest Country Day) and Nagelsmith each had two of Le Moyne's nine hits. Dylan Mouzakes earned his second win of the season with two and two-thirds scoreless innings out of the bullpen, while giving up one hit and striking out one. Josh Grant induced a foul out by the only batter he faced to close out the game for his third save.
Le Moyne (14-20, 7-9 NE-10, 7-9 SW) closes out the regular season on Saturday with a doubleheader against the Setters beginning at 12:30 p.m. at SUNY Purchase. To qualify for next week's Northeast-10 Conference Championships, the Dolphins need one of the two scenarios below to happen tomorrow.
Le Moyne goes 2-0 against Pace AND Adelphi goes 0-2 against Saint Rose OR
Le Moyne goes 2-0 against Pace AND Adelphi goes 2-0 against Saint Rose AND New Haven goes 2-0 against American International
