#1 Farmingdale State - 2, #2
Old Westbury - 1
Farmingdale, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State
baseball team captured their sixth consecutive Skyline Conference
Championship after defeating Old Westbury, 2-1, this afternoon in
Farmingdale, N.Y. The Rams earned the conference's automatic bid to
the NCAA Regional Tournament.
Senior left fielder David Zilnicki
(Riverhead, N.Y.) led off the game with a walk and advanced to
second on a bunt single by junior centerfielder Edward
Bergmann (East Meadow, N.Y.). After an Anthony Alvino
(Lindenhurst, N.Y.) sacrifice bunt, freshman designated hitter Dalton
McCarthy (Manorville, N.Y.) reached on a fielder's choice as
Zilnicki scored to give the Rams (28-11) a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first, senior centerfielder Paul Valerio
(Merrick, N.Y.) led off with a single and stole a pair of bases to
reach third base with one out. Valerio scored an unearned run with
two outs on a Farmingdale State throwing error to tie the game at
1-1.
With one out and two runners on in the top of the fifth, Alvino
hit an RBI fielder's choice, which scored Zilnicki and put the Rams
ahead 2-1.
Freshman pitcher Alex
Weingarten (East Rockaway, N.Y.) forced inning-ending double
plays in both the eighth and ninth inning, to clinch Farmingdale
State's sixth straight berth into the 2013 NCAA Baseball
Regionals.
Weingarten was named the Skyline Tournament Most Outstanding
Player. In today's game, he earned his third save of the season
after throwing four scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one
walk and striking out four. Freshman Kevin Martinez
(2-0) (Glen Cove, N.Y.) picked up the win after pitching three
hitless innings with one walk and one strikeout.
Zilnicki was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, two stolen bases and
two walks, while senior first baseman Ron Remi
(Massapequa, N.Y.) was 2-for-4 at the plate for the Rams.
Farmingdale State next will travel to Kean for a non-conference
game on Friday, May 10th at 1:00 p.m. before the NCAA Regional
Tournament on May 15-19. The Regional field will be announced on
Monday, May 13th.