Baseball Split Series in Conference Opener

The LIU Post Baseball team won two of their games against St. Thomas Aquinas College over the weekend in Yaphank, NY, but stumbled in their second double-header against the Spartans. This was their first conference opponent of the season. The Pioneers have had to travel to Baseball Heaven in Yaphank for their last six games that were originally scheduled to be played at the LIU Post Baseball Field because of the recent weather’s affect on their home field.

The Pioneers won the first double header against the Spartans on March 24, 6-3 and 15-7. They returned to Yaphank again on March 26 for the second and final doubleheader of the series, losing to the Spartans 0-2 and 7-2. The two wins Friday broke a four game losing streak. They now hold an overall record 10-10 and a conference record of 2-2.

“It feels great to be back on track, especially seeing the bats heat up after a rough week,” said Anthony Vaglica after the first two games. “There seemed to be more of a focus and we scored early on in the games which helped.”

Sophomore in fielder Jimmy Mendyck, whose RBI double brought the Pioneers in the lead for good during the opener, said that their offense needed to be was more aggressive at the plate. “We knew were were better than what we showed at the previous three games,” Mendyck said, referring to their previous losses against Adelphi and Le Moyne. “Our lineup slumped for a few games, but that happens in baseball.”

Junior outfielder Rob Andreoli collected two home runs in the double header, a solo homer in the opener and a two run homer in the nightcap. Vaglica and senior catcher Thomas Asbaty also hit two-run homers in the second game.

As for the pitching staff, senior Jake DeCarli pitched seven innings of the opening game, allowing six hits, three runs and three walks with seven strikeouts. Freshman pitcher Noah Lorenzo also saw seven innings of action in the second game, allowing nine hits, four runs and one walk with eight strikeouts.

As for the two games on Sunday, according to Mendyck, the Pioneers was “the team that made more mistakes and [the Spartans] pitchers kept us off balance so we weren’t able to drive in many runs.”

The Pioneers are scheduled to return to their home field for the first time in over three weeks for their next game on April 1 against Mercy College. First pitch is at noon.