COUGAR BASEBALL

BASEBALL COMES BACK TO EARN SPLIT AT USP

4-25-06
USP 6, CC 3
CC 5, USP 3
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Two runs in the top of the seventh of the second game broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Caldwell College baseball team a split of a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader with the University of Sciences Tuesday afternoon at Ashburn Field. The Cougars, who are now 17-20 overall and 10-9 in the CACC, won the season series with the Devils (10-26, 7-13 CACC), having defeated USP 9-4 on Apr. 6.

With game two tied 3-3, Caldwell had runners on first and second with two out in the top of the seventh inning. Junior Billy Ryan (Toms River, NJ/Manchester), right, singled, scoring sophomore Rich Gili (Manorville, NY/Shoreham-Wading River) to take  the lead. Then junior Efrain Velazquez (Brick, NJ/Brick Twp.) singled home freshman Jorge Torres (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella), giving the Cougars a 5-3 lead. Freshman Stephen Pfeil (Hampstead, NH/Pinherton Academy), who pitched 3 2/3 innings of relief to earn the win, walked the first batter of the seventh, then recorded a strikeout and induced a double-play grounder to end the game.

Ryan and Velazquez each had RBIs in the first inning, and Ryan singled home another run in the third to give Caldwell a 3-0 lead. The Devils eventually tied the game with runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings, setting up the dramatic seventh for the Cougars. Ryan and Torres each had two hits, and Pfeil allowed seven hits and one earned run to improve to 4-4.

The day didn't start as well as it ended for Caldwell, as USP scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning of game one. The Cougars tied it up on Ryan's RBI double in the top of the fourth, only to have the Devils push three runs across in the bottom of the fourth to go up 4-1. The Cougars took one run back in the top of the fifth, when senior Landon Viessy (Oakland Gardens, NY/Cardozo) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. But a two-run double by Michael DeVincenzo in the fifth put USP ahead 6-2. Senior Nick Mauro (Nutley, NJ/Nutley), left, led off the top of the sixth with a home run, his team-leading fifth of the season, to make the score 6-3.

But the Cougars would get no closer, as DeVincenzo blanked Caldwell the rest of the way to earn the victory. He went the distance, allowing three hits and three runs to improve to 2-6. Sophomore Tommy Murphy (Monroe, NY/Washingtonville) pitched five innings and gave up eight hits and five earned runs to drop to 4-3 on the season.

The Cougars return to CACC action when they host Wilmington College on Thursday, Apr. 27. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. at Smith Field.

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