YAPHANK, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University baseball team split its season-opening doubleheader with John Jay, at Baseball Heaven, on Tuesday evening. After falling in the first game, 16-0, Yeshiva rallied from a three-run deficit to earn the victory in the second contest, 4-3, to knock off last year's runner-up in the CUNYAC championships.

With the game tied, 3-3 in the top of the seventh of game two, senior left fielder Aryeh Salovey drilled an inside-the-park home run to straightaway center field to give the Macs (1-1) a 4-3 advantage. John Jay had the potential game-winning run come to the plate in the bottom-frame, but junior pitcher Sonny Braha escaped the jam to earn the win after pitching three shutout innings in relief.

Earlier in the day, John Jay (5-6) scored seven runs in the opening inning of game one, and never looked back. The highlight of the inning was an RBI triple by senior pitcher Zach Hyde, and a two-run single off the bat of classmate Steven Catuogno.

Yeshiva committed seven errors as a team and the lineup only produced three hits. Junior center fielder David Hanelin, classmate Alex Malech, and sophomore third baseman Avi Nat each recorded a single, while junior catcher Max Goldstein, classmate Mordy Kirsch, and sophomore right fielder Yosef Rosenfield each reached base via a walk.

Hyde pitched seven shutout innings, striking out nine batters in the process, to earn a complete-game victory, his third win on the mound this season. Sophomore pitcher Rafi Jacobs took the loss for the Maccabees.

"The guys didn't get down a bit after the first game," Yeshiva University head coach Marty Craft said.

In the second game, sophomore center fielder Anthony Liriano drew a walk with the bases loaded to give the Bloodhounds the lead, in the bottom of the second inning. Later in the frame, Catuogno reached base on a fielder's choice, scoring freshman right fielder Gerandy Mercado, to increase John Jay's lead to 2-0.  

Catuogno picked up another RBI in the bottom of the fourth, this time with a triple to right-center, to put Yeshiva in a three-run hole. Mercado came around to score his second run of the game.

Yeshiva's bats would wake up in the top half of the fifth inning, scoring three runs. With Rosenfield on third and one out, Salovey lined a double to center field to put Yeshiva on the board and narrow John Jay's lead to 3-1. Later in the inning, YU had runners on second and third with one out. Malech hit the ball deep enough to right field, allowing Salovey to score and shrink the Bloodhounds' lead to one run. Next up was freshman designated hitter David Kreisberg, who slapped a two-out single to center to score Hanelin and tie the game, 3-3. "Just a great group of at bats," Craft said.

Neither team could score again until the top of the seventh inning. With the bases empty and one out, Salovey launched a ball deep to center, that flew over sophomore center fielder Philip Bellomo's head and all the way to the wall. Salovey ran around the bases and was able to beat the throw home, for the inside-the-park home run that gave Yeshiva its first lead of the evening, 4-3. YU took the one-run lead into the bottom frame.

John Jay had one more inning to at least tie the game. With one man out, Hyde drew a walk and then managed to steal two bases to put the game-tying run at third. Bellomo hit a grounder to Kirsch, who threw out Hyde at home. Sophomore catcher S.J. Tannenbaum applied the tag to prevent the Bloodhounds from tying the game. With Bellomo at first and two outs, freshman left fielder Jake Walton came up to the plate as the potential game-winning run. However, Braha forced Walton to swing and miss for strike three and clinch the come-from-behind victory for the Maccabees.

"Game two was a total fresh start, and the guys battled from the first pitch to the last," Craft said.

For the game, Salovey, Hanelin, and Kreisberg each went 2-for-4, while junior shortstop Zachary Baly hit a single, drew a walk, and stole a base. Rosenfield and Malech each added singles of their own.

Sophomore pitcher Dovie Solomon had a solid collegiate debut on the mound, striking out six John Jay batters and giving up three earned runs in four innings pitched. Braha pitched three shutout innings, giving up just one hit and struck out four batters to earn the win. Sophomore pitcher Nick Jack pitched a complete game, giving up two runs and striking out 11 YU hitters, but took the loss.

Yeshiva will host the City College of New York, in the home opener at Silver Lake Park, on Friday morning. The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m.