OLD WESTBURY, NY (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) - The SUNY College at Old Westbury baseball team's perfect Skyline Conference record came to an end Sunday afternoon when the NYU-Poly Fighting Jays claimed 6-5 and 7-5 victories in Old Westbury. With the setbacks, Old Westbury (9-15) is now 7-2 in conference play while NYU-Poly (2-9) improves to 2-3.
In the opener, Old Westbury broke the scoring ice in the third inning with a John Angelino RBI single that scored Kevin Licul for a 1-0 lead. Tommy Ziegen then doubled the Panthers' advantage by reaching base with a walk, stealing second and third base and then scoring off a Joey Walsh sacrifice fly for a two run lead heading into the bottom of the third inning.
Panther starter Christopher Vitale allowed a sacrifice fly to score Abbruzzese for NYU-Poly's opening run in the fourth inning followed by a Will Quigley RBI single to knot the game at two-all. Quigley's at bat ended Vitale's day as Tyler Levine was called in for relief work with two inherited runners on base. Levine dealt out a walk to his first batter followed by Kian Downes' two-run single for a 4-2 NYU-Poly lead at the end of four.
The Panthers clawed back with two runs in the fifth to make it a 4-4 game. Angelino scored Jonathan Pagan off a sacrifice fly and an RBI double by Matteo Gaudio knocked home Christian Faust.
Michael Cardino doubled to open the ninth inning and then scored two batters later off Licul's RBI single for a 5-4 Panther lead.
NYU-Poly answered in the bottom of the ninth with a pair of RBI singles by Cesar Murillas and Julian Santulli off Panther closerAlex DiSanto to escape with a 6-5 game one victory.
Panther reliever Caleb Olesen fanned three batters and kept NYU-Poly off the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh frames to extend his scoreless streak to 7.2 innings on the season. DiSanto (0-2) was tagged with the loss after surrendering two runs on four hits and one walk in 1.2 innings of relief.
Angelino (2-4, 2 RBI), Gaudio (2-4, RBI), and Ziegen (2-3, R, 3 SB) led the Panthers with two hits apiece.
Christian Conroy (1-2) picked up NYU-Poly's complete game victory by allowing five runs (three earned ) on nine hits and six walks.
Santulli collected a game-high four hits in five at bats to lead NYU-Poly's offense while Quigley (2-4, RBI, R), Downes (2-4, 2 RBI, 4) and Murillas (2-5, RBI) added multi-hit games.
In the finale, NYU-Poly jumped ahead early with an RBI single by Santulli in the first inning and a Downes RBI single in the second for a 2-0 lead.
Old Westbury answered in the third with a pair of unearned runs on two errors which saw Carlos Balmaceda and Jesse Matoscross the plate to knot the game at two-all.
NYU-Poly responded in the bottom of the third with four runs (two earned) on three hits and three errors to go ahead for good. The four run inning ended Panther start Nick Dorcean's day, prompting Tyler Kapela to make a three inning relief appearance.
The Panthers offense got going in the fifth inning when Pagan singled home Matos to make it a 6-3 game.
Then in the sixth, Matos clubbed a triple to score Cardino to pull within two runs.
Murillas answered in the NYU-Poly sixth with a run scoring triple for a 7-4 edge.
Angelino closed out the scoring books in the seventh with an RBI single that scored Pagan before Gaudio grounded out with one on base to end the comeback attempt.
Matos (2-2, 2 R, RBI, BB) collected his third career multi-hit game, which included his first career triple.
Dorcean (0-2) took his second loss of the season after allowing six runs (four earned) on six hits and one walk while striking out four. Kapela allowed one run on one hit and two walks.
Nate Albers (1-3) fanned two batters and earned the NYU-Poly win. Albers allowed five runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks.
Downes (2-3, 2 R, RBI, B), Murillas (2-3, R, RBI, BB) and Santulli (2-4, 2 RBI, R) each produced two hits to lead NYU-Poly to victory.
This was potentially the last-ever matchup between the two teams as NYU-Poly officially merged with NYU at the start of the academic semester in January of this year. Now, officially the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, the Jays athletics' program will cease to exist at the end of the academic year. Since joining the Skyline Conference in 2008, NYU-Poly had lost all 12 games against Old Westbury as the Panthers outscored the Fighting Jays, 217-34, entering today.
RUTGERS-NEWARK SCARLET RAIDERS UP NEXT FOR THE PANTHERS: Old Westbury returns to the diamond on Tuesday (April 8) for a non-conference battle with the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders at 3 p.m. from Jackie Robinson Athletic Complex in Old Westbury, New York. In the opener, Old Westbury broke the scoring ice in the third inning with a John Angelino RBI single that scored Kevin Licul for a 1-0 lead. Tommy Ziegen then doubled the Panthers' advantage by reaching base with a walk, stealing second and third base and then scoring off a Joey Walsh sacrifice fly for a two run lead heading into the bottom of the third inning.
Panther starter Christopher Vitale allowed a sacrifice fly to score Abbruzzese for NYU-Poly's opening run in the fourth inning followed by a Will Quigley RBI single to knot the game at two-all. Quigley's at bat ended Vitale's day as Tyler Levine was called in for relief work with two inherited runners on base. Levine dealt out a walk to his first batter followed by Kian Downes' two-run single for a 4-2 NYU-Poly lead at the end of four.
The Panthers clawed back with two runs in the fifth to make it a 4-4 game. Angelino scored Jonathan Pagan off a sacrifice fly and an RBI double by Matteo Gaudio knocked home Christian Faust.
Michael Cardino doubled to open the ninth inning and then scored two batters later off Licul's RBI single for a 5-4 Panther lead.
NYU-Poly answered in the bottom of the ninth with a pair of RBI singles by Cesar Murillas and Julian Santulli off Panther closerAlex DiSanto to escape with a 6-5 game one victory.
Panther reliever Caleb Olesen fanned three batters and kept NYU-Poly off the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh frames to extend his scoreless streak to 7.2 innings on the season. DiSanto (0-2) was tagged with the loss after surrendering two runs on four hits and one walk in 1.2 innings of relief.
Angelino (2-4, 2 RBI), Gaudio (2-4, RBI), and Ziegen (2-3, R, 3 SB) led the Panthers with two hits apiece.
Christian Conroy (1-2) picked up NYU-Poly's complete game victory by allowing five runs (three earned ) on nine hits and six walks.
Santulli collected a game-high four hits in five at bats to lead NYU-Poly's offense while Quigley (2-4, RBI, R), Downes (2-4, 2 RBI, 4) and Murillas (2-5, RBI) added multi-hit games.
In the finale, NYU-Poly jumped ahead early with an RBI single by Santulli in the first inning and a Downes RBI single in the second for a 2-0 lead.
Old Westbury answered in the third with a pair of unearned runs on two errors which saw Carlos Balmaceda and Jesse Matoscross the plate to knot the game at two-all.
NYU-Poly responded in the bottom of the third with four runs (two earned) on three hits and three errors to go ahead for good. The four run inning ended Panther start Nick Dorcean's day, prompting Tyler Kapela to make a three inning relief appearance.
The Panthers offense got going in the fifth inning when Pagan singled home Matos to make it a 6-3 game.
Then in the sixth, Matos clubbed a triple to score Cardino to pull within two runs.
Murillas answered in the NYU-Poly sixth with a run scoring triple for a 7-4 edge.
Angelino closed out the scoring books in the seventh with an RBI single that scored Pagan before Gaudio grounded out with one on base to end the comeback attempt.
Matos (2-2, 2 R, RBI, BB) collected his third career multi-hit game, which included his first career triple.
Dorcean (0-2) took his second loss of the season after allowing six runs (four earned) on six hits and one walk while striking out four. Kapela allowed one run on one hit and two walks.
Nate Albers (1-3) fanned two batters and earned the NYU-Poly win. Albers allowed five runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks.
Downes (2-3, 2 R, RBI, B), Murillas (2-3, R, RBI, BB) and Santulli (2-4, 2 RBI, R) each produced two hits to lead NYU-Poly to victory.
This was potentially the last-ever matchup between the two teams as NYU-Poly officially merged with NYU at the start of the academic semester in January of this year. Now, officially the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, the Jays athletics' program will cease to exist at the end of the academic year. Since joining the Skyline Conference in 2008, NYU-Poly had lost all 12 games against Old Westbury as the Panthers outscored the Fighting Jays, 217-34, entering today.
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