April 2, 2014

Olivo’s walk-off seals CCNY’s comeback over ‘Fins, 6-5

More news about: CCNY

NEW YORK --- Yoribaldis Olivo singled to right-center in bottom of the ninth to drive in the winning run as the City College of New York baseball team defeated the visiting team from the College of Staten Island, 6-5, on Wednesday afternoon. The Beavers of CCNY improve to 6-3-1 while the Dolphins of CSI drop to 7-7.

The game saw City rally back from 5-1 deficit from the top of the seventh, when the Dolphins posted three runs and seemingly took command of the game. In the bottom of the seventh, Richard Bethea hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Gabriel Pena, cutting the deficit to 5-2.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Mike Smith, facing a full count, hit a two-RBI triple to right field, scoring Jhosse Estrella and Victor Vargas. On the very next at bat, Pena struck out but forced a throw to first when the ball got past the catcher. That allowed Smith to steal home, tying the game. 

In the bottom of the ninth, Jacob Sonenshine reached on a hit-by-pitch, then advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a passed ball. Bethea, the next batter up, fought his way through a full count before walking, then stole second. That set the stage for Olivo's heroics. The junior made contact on a 2-0 pitch, getting a blooper to drop into shallow right-centerfield for the walk-off as the Beavers' bench exploded in celebration along with remaining faithful fans.

Jose Aquino earned his fourth win of the season, coming in to pitch the top of the ninth and recording two strikeouts. Sacha Urbach had a strong showing, coming in in relief in the fourth inning to pitch two-and-two-thirds of shutout ball with four strikeouts. Bethea finished with two RBI, having drown in the first run of the game in the bottom of the second to score Adrian Pena. The Beavers went three-for-four on stolen bases, with Estrella, Smith and Bethea all getting extra bags.

It was the first win for the Beavers over the Dolphins in 14 tries, dating back to a 2007 conference playoff victory. Just ten games into the season, CCNY has already eclipsed last year's win total of five.

CCNY is back on the field on Saturday when they host Baruch College in a CUNYAC double-header beginning at 12:00 p.m.