PANTHER BASEBALL ROARS INTO SEMIS WITH 8-3 VICTORY OVER DOLPHINS

MAY 2, 2009

Old Westbury-Mount Saint Vincent Boxscore

FARMINGDALE, N.Y.-The SUNY College at Old Westbury baseball team defeated Mount Saint Vincent to advance to the semifinals of the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament with an 8-3 win over the Dolphins on Saturday afternoon in Farmingdale.  Old Westbury (27-12) is set to face third-seeded St. Joseph's College-L.I. (20-16) at 7:30 p.m. at the Farmingdale State College Baseball Field with the winner taking on top-seed Farmingdale State (25-13) at 12:00 p.m. Sunday.

Panthers at the plate: The offensive output for Old Westbury was more than enough to support junior left-hander Dan Fordyce (Brentwood, N.Y.).  Junior Albert Bevacqua (Staten Island, N.Y.) paced Old Westbury at the plate with three hits in five at-bats including two RBI and one run scored.  Bevacqua singled to knock in sophomore Steve Henriquez (North Babylon, N.Y.) in the third inning, putting the Panthers on the board as part of a three-run inning.  Bevacqua struck again in the fifth inning when he drove home senior Ben Farmer (Three Mile Bay, N.Y.) off a single to give Old Westbury a 5-2 advantage.  Farmer (2-for-3) scored two runs while sophomore Ryan Blanco (Ozone Park, N.Y.) hit 2-for-5 with four stolen bases, two RBI and one run scored.  Sophomore Fernando Lopez (Bronx, N.Y.) clubbed a double and finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate.

Dolphins at the plate: Senior Nick Triolo (Homer, N.Y.) led Mount Saint Vincent at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored.  Senior Brendan Russo (Westbury, N.Y.) doubled down the left field line in the second inning to score Triolo from first.  Senior Mike Ruckdaschel (East Meadow) singled up the middle to score sophomore James Labartino (Holbrook, N.Y.) in the third, hitting 2-for-4 at the plate with a double.   

Panthers on the mound: Junior Dan Fordyce (Brentwood, N.Y.) improved to 5-0 on the year after striking out nine batters.  Fordyce allowed three runs on nine hits and one walk in seven innings of work.  Seniors David Collado (Copiague, N.Y.) and Jake Tauber (Valley Stream, N.Y.) worked the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, striking out two.      

Dolphins on the mound: Senior Corey Kirsh (East Meadow, N.Y.) took the loss for Mount Saint Vincent, going 7.1 innings and allowing six runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk to go with three strikeouts.  Junior John Olsen (Seaford, N.Y.) and junior Joe Blackford (Stewartsville, N.J.) combined for 1.2 innings with two strikeouts allowing four hits and two runs.

Game Notes: Old Westbury and Mount Saint Vincent tallied 10 hits apiece and the Dolphins held a 3-1 advantage in extra base hits.  On the base path, Old Westbury stole six bags and stranded six on base while Mount Saint Vincent stole a pair of bases and left nine runners on base.  Defensively, Mount Saint Vincent committed five errors.  On the mound, Old Westbury struck out 11 and walked two compared to Mount Saint Vincent, which registered five strikeouts and handed out one free pass.     

Please visit www.oldwestburypanthers.com for more information on baseball or any of the other Panther athletic teams.