SETTERS DROP TWIN BILL TO DOWLING COLLEGE

PLEASANTVILLE, NY - The Pace University baseball team lost both games in a non-conference doubleheader to the Golden Lions of Dowling College, by the scores of 7-1 and 5-2, on Thursday afternoon at Finnerty Field. The Setters are now 12-10-1 at Finnerty Field this season.

The losses will drop Pace to 19-28-1 for the season, while the wins improve Dowling to 25-12 for the year.

Dowling got on the board first in the top of the first inning as the Golden Lions put up a run on two hits off Pace starter Giuseppe Granitto (Bronx, NY/Concordia College) (Bronx, NY/Concordia) (1-7) to take a 1-0 lead.

The Golden Lions extended their lead to 4-0 as they added three more runs on three hits in the top of the third inning off Granitto.

Granitto went five innings on the day giving up seven runs on 11 hits. He struck out five and walked four in the loss. One bright spot in game one for Pace was reliever Salvatore DePaola (East Meadow, NY/Kellenberg Memorial) (East Meadow, NY/Kellenberg Memorial) who pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Granitto. DePaola's efforts were not enough as Pace would go on to fall 7-1 in game one.

Game two got off to a similar start as game one with Dowling taking a early 3-0 lead. The Golden Lions scored three runs (one earned) on one hit and two errors in the top of the third inning off Pace starter Richard Sullivan (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) (1-2).

Pace finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to one of the most bizarre plays you will ever see. Patrick Chaputian (Sea Cliff, NY/North Shore) (Sea Cliff, NY/North Shore) led off the inning with a single through the left side. Chaputian moved to second on a wild pitch, and then to third on a Kenny Wright (Middle Island, NY/Longwood) groundout to second base. Mike Torello (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire) (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire) stepped into the box next for Pace with Chaputian on third, and only one out. This is where the craziness started as Torello fouled out to the catcher to make the second out. Chaputian seeing that one was covering home tags on the play, and dashes toward home. As Chaputian charges toward the plate, the catcher races back to cover the plate, and Chaputian jumps straight over the Dowling catcher to avoid the tag and score the first Pace run of the game. Chaputian had a nice day at the plate as well going 2-for-3 in the game.

Unfortunately, the Setters couldn't capitalize on this momentum as the Golden Lions scored two more runs late to put the game out of reach as they would take game two 5-2.

Pace will be back in action on Saturday, May 2 as they will get back to NE-10 play by hosting Merrimack College in a doubleheader for Senior Day. The first game is scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m.