Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Pace University baseball team kicked off its weekend down at the Russ Matt Invitational in Winter Haven, Fla. with games against Gannon University and Ashland University on Saturday. The Setters defeated Gannon in the morning game, 8-3, but later fell to Ashland in extra innings, 12-11. The split leaves the Setters with a 3-2 record on the season.
Game 1 – Pace 8, Gannon 3 Senior starter
Dylan Mouzakes (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills) improved to 2-0 on the year with another solid outing in his second start. He tossed seven innings, allowing just three runs while striking out eight Gannon batters. Sophomore reliever
Anthony Criscione (Bronx, NY/Cardinal Spellman) cleaned things up nicely, throwing two scoreless innings to close out the game. He struck out another two batters while allowing just one hit.
Mouzakes got off to a rough start when Gannon left fielder Kyle Cox hit a solo shot in the top of the second to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead. Pace responded with a bang, as sophomore left fielder
Michael Gulino (Meriden, CT/Maloney) hit a two-run homer in the home half of the inning to put Pace on top. The runs kept coming, as junior center fielder
John Kukura (New City, NY/Clarkstown South) drew a bases-loaded walk to make it a 3-1 Pace lead. Sophomore shortstop
Paul Piccolino (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) followed that with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring senior catcher
Frank Mayo (Middletown, NY/Minisink Valley). Senior second baseman
Andrew Coffey (Greenwich, CT/Old Avon Farms) later scored on a passed ball to make it a five-run second inning for the Setters.
The Setters added another run when junior designated hitter
James Wynne (North Salem, NY/North Salem) reached on an error, scoring senior third baseman
Nick LoBello (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) from third to make it a 6-1 lead. An inning later, junior right fielder
Cory Capaldi (Telford, PA/Souderton) reached on a fielder's choice, bringing Kukura in from third to increase the lead to six runs.
Gannon got a couple back in the top of the fifth when shortstop Chris Beer doubled in two runs to cut the Pace lead to four. Capaldi added his second RBI in the home half of the eighth on a single to right field, plating Kukura once again to reach the eventual final score of 8-3.
LoBello hit 2-for-3 with two runs and a double in the win. Kukura went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while Gulino batted 1-for-4 with his two-run blast. Capaldi went 1-for-5 with two RBIs. Mayo went 1-for-3 with a run, and threw out the only batter that attempted to steal on him all game.
Gannon starter Ty Phelps took the loss in Saturday morning's matchup after allowing six runs (four earned) in three innings. Second baseman Mark DeVita hit 2-for-3 with a run, while right fielder Jared Wiesen batted 2-for-4 with another run. Beer knocked in two runs in a 1-for-3 outing.
Game 2 – Ashland 12, Pace 11 (10 inn) The Setters fell in their second game after a walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Eagles a 12-11 win. The game was wild from start to finish, including two big comebacks for the Setters.
Pace got off to a hot start when Capaldi hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to give the Setters a 2-0 lead. An error in the bottom half of the inning brought two runs around to score for Ashland, and another two came home on a two-RBI double by left fielder Mike Lewandowski to give the Eagles a 4-2 lead after one.
The Setters got one back in the second when Kukura hit into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded, plating Gulino from third to make it a one-run game. That did not last long, as first baseman Greg Ludwig hit a two-run homer for Ashland in the bottom of the second to give the Eagles a 6-3 advantage.
It was clear early on that no lead was safe, as the Setters stole it back again with a big rally in the top of the third. Capaldi knocked in his third RBI with a double, bringing LoBello around to score. Junior left fielder
Domenick Luongo (Darien, CT/Cardinal Spellman) then reached on an error, scoring Capaldi to get Pace within one. Grad student third baseman
Alec Petrone (Yorktown, NY/Mahopac / Marist College) then stroked a two-RBI double to give the Setters a 7-6 advantage. They were not done yet, as Kukura capped off the inning with another single, scoring Petrone to put Pace up by two in the third.
Ashland chipped away at Pace's lead in the fourth when center fielder Nick Edwards brought in a run on a double, cutting the Setters' lead to one. Ashland took the lead again in the bottom of the fifth. Shortstop Brad Hartman singled in a pair of runs to put the Eagles on top, and then second baseman Edmond Pilolli tripled in Hartman to make it a two-run Eagle lead. Pilolli later scored on a wild pitch to leave Pace down by three.
After an exciting first five innings, the bats went quiet until the Setters came up in the ninth needing three runs to keep the game going. LoBello started things off with a single, and was then pinch run for by Coffey. Capaldi then singled to give the Setters two on without an out. Later, with one away, Gulino singled to score Coffey to make it a two-run contest. Wynne then came up as a pinch hitter, and came through with another RBI single to get the Setters within one. Petrone followed that with a single of his own, bringing Gulino home to tie the game at 11. After a pitching change, the Setters were unable to get another runner on base, eventually sending the game to extras after a scoreless bottom of the ninth.
Pace was able to get a runner over to third with two away in the 10th, but was unable to get the runner home. The Eagles has runners on second and third before a wild pitch brought in the winning run for Ashland in the 10th.
Ashland's Alex Smith got the win after tossing 1.2 scoreless innings in relief. Junior reliever
Anthony Rocco (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) had a stellar outing in relief, tossing 4.1 innings and yielding just one hit and one run while striking out five, but he was responsible for the game-winning runner and falls to 0-1 on the season.
Capaldi hit 3-for-6 in the game with three RBIs, three runs scored and his two-run blast in the first, his third of the young season. Petrone batted 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored, while Gulino scored three runs and knocked in another in a 2-for-4 effort. Kukura went 2-for-6 with two RBIs and a run.
The Setters will take on West Chester University of Pennsylvania in a doubleheader on Sunday, March 6, their final day down in Winter Haven, Fla. First pitch for game one is set for 2:30 p.m.
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