#1 Farmingdale State - 5, #2 Old Westbury - 1

Farmingdale, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State baseball team advance to their sixth straight Skyline Conference Finals after defeating second-seeded Old Westbury 5-1 this afternoon. The Rams (27-11) enter the Championship game without a loss in the Playoffs. The Panthers (24-14-1) will now face the loser of game six (#3 Purchase/#5 Maritime) in an elimination game at 4:00 p.m.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Farmingdale State tied the game on a Dalton McCarthy (Manorville, N.Y.) sacrifice fly to centerfield.

Senior left fielder David Zilnicki (Riverhead, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the sixth and advanced to second on a Terrence Bohonan (Patchogue, N.Y.) sacrifice bunt. After a Rams pop-out, junior third baseman Daniel Paccione (Commack, N.Y.) hit an RBI single up the middle to give Farmingdale State a 2-1 lead.

McCarthy doubled down the right field line, before senior first baseman Ron Remi (Massapequa, N.Y.) gave the Rams a 4-1 lead on a bases-clearing single.

Farmingdale State took a 5-1 lead in the eighth on a Remi RBI single, which scored sophomore Michael Marino (Franklin Square, N.Y.).

Freshman pitcher Alex Weingarten (East Rockaway, N.Y.) pitched a scoreless ninth inning as the Rams clinched their spot in the conference finals.

Weingarten improved to 3-2 on the season after throwing four hitless innings with three strikeouts and a walk. Starting pitcher Michael Dolce (St. James, N.Y.) allowed no earned runs and five hits in 4.2 innings of work.

Remi was 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI and a stolen base, while Paccione and McCarthy each had a hit, run scored and RBI.

The Rams will face the winner of game seven (OW vs. PC/MC) tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. for the Skyline Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

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