PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Sophomore starter
Ryan Aquino (Mamaroneck, NY/Rye Neck) did not allow a run through six innings in his first start of the season, leading the Pace University baseball team to a 3-0 shutout victory over Concordia College Thursday afternoon at Peter X. Finnerty Field. The Setters improve to 8-6 with the win, while the Clippers drop to 3-10.
Aquino scattered four hits and struck out five batters over his six frames of work to jump to 1-0 on the season. Junior reliever
Anthony Rocco (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) relieved Aquino, and struck out three batters in two innings without yielding a run. Sophomore reliever
Paul Piccolino (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) came on in the ninth, and hurled a 1-2-3 inning, including a pair of strikeouts, to pick up his first save of the year.
Junior center fielder
John Kukura (New City, NY/Clarkstown South) provided the winning run in the first at bat of the game for the Setters. Leading off the bottom of the first, Kukura blasted a solo shot over the left-field wall to give Pace a 1-0 lead from the jump.
Pace took advantage of some mistakes made by the Clippers to add to its lead throughout the game. In the bottom of the second with two down, freshman second baseman
Michael Salmonese (Waldwick, NJ/Waldwick) reached on an error by the shortstop, allowing senior first baseman
Nick LoBello (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) to score from third and make it a 2-0 lead for the Setters. In the fifth frame, junior right fielder
Cory Capaldi (Telford, PA/Souderton) hit a ground-rule double to left-center with one away. He moved up on a ground out, and then scored on a wild pitch with two outs to put Pace up by three.
Kukura went 1-for-3 his leadoff home run in the win. Capaldi hit 2-for-4 with a run and a double. Graduate shortstop
Brett Bittiger (Saylorsburg, PA/Pius X) and graduate third baseman
Alec Petrone (Yorktown, NY/Mahopac / Marist College) each batted 1-for-3.
Concordia starter Michell Hillerty took the loss after allowing two runs (one earned) in two innings of work. Center fielder Chris Petrccione went 1-for-2, and catcher Joseph Davide hit 1-for-1 with a double.
The Setters now take off for Cary, N.C. for a trio of games over the weekend down at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. They will first play Dominican College on Friday, March 18, at 5 p.m. They pick things up on Saturday with a 12:30 p.m. matchup with Dowling College. The weekend will conclude with a 10 a.m. non-conference game against Franklin Pierce University on Sunday.
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