YAPHANK, N.Y. -The SUNY Old Westbury baseball team split their doubleheader against the University of Mount Saint Vincent Dolphins on Saturday.
The Panthers won the first game by a score of 10-7 in seven innings. The Dolphins took the second game by a score of 16-12.
Old Westbury now sits at 10-13 on the season and has a conference record of 5-5.
Game one - SUNY Old Westbury (10) - Mount Saint Vincent (7)
The first game started out with Mount Saint Vincent scoring a run in the top of the first inning ny way of an RBI double.
The Panthers would respond in the bottom half of the second inning, scoring seven runs to open a 7-1 lead. The big hit of the inning came by way of a Rob Manetta grand slam. This was Manetta's third home run of the season. Old Westbury tacked on three more runs through a Brian McCloskey double, James Sill single and a fielding error by the Dolphins.
It was a strong game for the Panther's starter Kyle Gaertner who nearly went the whole way, pitching 6.2 innings. Gaertner struck out two and only walked one batter. Before the seventh inning, Gaertner only gave up two runs and left seven runners left on base throughout his work.
Old Westbury would add insurance runs in the fourth inning when Nick Papageorge hit a two run home run to push the score to 9-2.
The Panthers got another run in the sixth inning through the second Mount Saint Vincent error of the game.
The Dolphins would put up a fight in the top of the seventh inning adding five runs, but the Panthers' Justin Aramini would come in relief to get the final out of the ballgame.
The Panthers took the game one victory by a final score or 10-5.
It was a great game for Panther hitters as eight of the nine players to get a plate appearance reached base at least once. Four hitters recorded multi-hit games. Old Westbury hitters also walked five times, which is the most since their 22-2 victory back on March 24th against St. Joseph's University (Brooklyn).
Game Two - SUNY Old Westbury (12) - Mount Saint Vincent (16)
In game two it was the Dolphins who had the fast start in the second inning as they scored six runs.
The Panthers would respond in the bottom half scoring two runs through a Brian McCloskey sacrifice fly and a Jacob Taormina single.
Old Westbury would chip away at the lead with a Nick Giovanakis single in the third, and would eventually tie the game with a solo home run courtesy of Rob Manetta, his second of the game and fourth of the season.
Mount Saint Vincent grabbed the lead in the fifth inning scoring four runs, pushing the score to 10-6.
Again the Panthers fought back with a RBI double by Jaime Barrios in the sixth inning, and a solo home run by James Sill, closing the gap to 10-8
The runs kept coming as the Dolphins would add three more runs of their own in the eighth inning.
The Panthers did not go away easily, scoring four of their own to set the score at 13-12. Those four came from a Mike Petrucelly RBI double and James Sill's second home run of the game, this of the three-run variety. Sill now leads the team in home runs with six on the season.
The Panthers would eventually come up short as the Dolphins tacked on another three in the top half of the ninth inning. It was a remarkable game for Mount Saint Vincent's Will Granada, who hit three home runs tallying eight RBIs.
Mount Saint Vincent avoided the split with a 16-12 victory in the second game.
Old Westbury made the most of their hits scoring 12 runs on their 11 hits. The Panthers would also walk six times.
Up next for the Panthers is another conference doubleheader against the Mount Saint Mary College Knights. Last season Old Westbury went 1-1 against the Knights on the road. Game one is scheduled to start at 12 PM on Sunday April 14th. The games will be played in Yaphank, N.Y. at Lasorda Legacy Park.
