PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Sparked by a season-high 22 hits, the Pace University baseball team put together a 15-2 triumph over LIU Post on Wednesday afternoon at Finnerty Field.
The win, which moves the Setters' record to 11-7-1 this season, also marked the 400
th in the career of head coach Hank Manning. Coach Manning had previously became Pace's all-time wins leader last Friday afternoon, passing the great Fred Calaicone.
The Setters wasted no time in beginning their offensive eruption, going off for five runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Michael Salmonese (Waldwick, NJ/Waldwick) led off the game with a triple while
Matt Almonte (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) knocked him in with an RBI single.
Paul Piccolino (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) followed with a two-run home run over the left-field wall. Following a pair of walks and a pair of outs,
Greg Tsouprakos (West Islip, NY/West Islip) drove in two more with a single to left.
Tsouprakos, who ended the game with five RBIs, struck again in the third. The rookie launched his first career home run—a solo bomb—to give Pace a 7-1 lead.
The Blue and Gold's next big inning came in the fourth. Seven consecutive one-out hits yielded four more runs for the home squad. Tsouprakos and
Felix Camacho (Bronx, NY/St. Raymond's High School for Boys / Westchester Community College) each knocked in a pair of runs.
Already comfortably leading 11-2 through six-and-half, Pace added four more in the seventh. The Setters' big hit came off the bat of
Ryan Crowley (Cornwall on Hudson, NY/Iona Prep/Monmouth), who hammered a three-run home run to give Pace a 15-2 lead.
Michael Barbato (Sparkill, NY/Tappan Zee), who had an RBI hit earlier in the inning, and
Michael Gulino (Meriden, CT/Maloney) scored on the play.
Freshman
Thomas Ippolito (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) earned the win on the mound for Pace after allowing just one run over six innings. He also struck out three.
Up Next
The Setters are back in action tomorrow afternoon, traveling to take on No. 5 New Haven at 3:30 p.m.
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