Union, N.J. (5/10/14) – The Kean University baseball team poured on 10 runs in their regular season finale by topping Farmingdale State College, 10-1.
Kean improves to 31-12 while Farmingdale drops to 25-11.
The Cougars got all the runs they would need in their half of the first. Senior Tyler Smarslok led off the game with a four pitch walk and moved to third with a hit in the hole from sophomore Matt Meleo. Sophomore Sal Taormina made it 1-0 with a sacrifice fly. Senior Joe O'Connor kept the inning going with a ground-rule double which set up second and third with one out. Junior Andy Lopez provided what would be the winning run with an RBI groundout and Ryan Reitmeyer rounded out the scoring with an RBI single.
Kean added single runs in the third and fifth thanks to wild pitches and put the game out of reach with a five run eighth inning, all with two outs. Senior Scott Kinney started the rally with a pinch-hit single, followed by a single from pinch-hitter Tyler Heisch. Senior Shane Alvarez made it 6-1 with an RBI single and Kendell kept the inning alive with a two RBI single. A single from Brock Podgurski and a hit-by-pitch to Smarslok loaded the bases for pinch-hitter Frank Urso. He too was hit and drove in run number nine and Kean scored the final run of the day as Podgurski crossed the plate on a wild pitch.
The Rams broke up the shutout in the top of the eighth using small ball to move Sal Sanquini around the bases. He scored on a Cougar wild pitch.
Senior Nick Zucchero picked up the win in a predetermined rotation. Zucchero (5-0) tossed three innings allowing just two hits. Kean used five pitchers in today's action as Mike Daley tossed two, Richie Ferguson pitched a pair, Casey Carothers added a single frame and Vinny Zanfordino closed out the ninth.
Offensively O'Connor was 2-for-4 with two doubles while Meleo finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a triple. Sophomore Ryan Kelley was a perfect 2-for-2. Leadoff hitter Tom Rydzewski had two of Farmingdale's seven hits on the day.
The Cougars will wait to see if they earned an at-large (Pool C) bid into the NCAA Tournament which will be announced via a press release on the NCAA website (ncaa.com) late Sunday evening. Farmingdale won their conference berth and automatic bid, but awaits their location and seeding.