The Pace University baseball team took one and dropped one Saturday, March 4, as the Setters split a pair of games against Jefferson University. Pace won game one by a 9-3 score, then fell 7-6 in the latter game.

The pitchers were in control early to start game one, as senior Patrick Gleason (Valhalla, N.Y./Valhalla) and Jefferson's Samuel Bass kept hitters in check through the first three innings. The two pitchers allowed just one hit in the first three frames, but things started to open up offensively in the fourth.

Jefferson (3-3) got the first two hitters on to start the inning, and Gabe Silva delivered an RBI single to put the Rams ahead 1-0. The Setters (3-1) answered back to take the lead in the bottom of the frame, however. After loading the bases with nobody out, a hit by pitch tied the game at one, and an RBI groundout by junior shortstop Anthony Labita (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) gave the Setters a 2-1 lead after four.

Jefferson got two runners on in the fifth, but Gleason was able to keep them off the scoreboard to hold the lead for Pace. The Setters were able to build on their lead in the fifth, putting up three runs to take a 5-1 lead. After a leadoff walk by senior outfielder Matthew Rinaldi (Scarsdale, N.Y./Eastchester), an RBI double by grad student outfielder Mitchell McCabe (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford/ Bridgton Academy) brought Rinaldi in to make it a 3-1 game. Grad student catcher Nate Carminucci (Somers, N.Y./North Salem High School) then singled, bringing in sophomore shortstop Mason Baronian (River Vale, N.J./Pascack Valley) to put another run on the board. Sophomore catcher Hunter Goldstein (Jericho, N.Y./Jericho) then brough in McCabe with an RBI groundout to make it a 5-1 game after five innings.

The Rams pulled closer in the top of the sixth, putting up two runs to make it a 5-3 score. Chris McLane got it started with a ground-rule double, then came in to score on a wild pitch. Joe Cencetti then connected on an RBI double to left, cutting the Pace lead down to two. But grad student pitcher Michael Roll (Ramsey, N.J./Bergen Catholic High School) was able to work out of trouble, getting a strikeout to end the inning.

The Setters got it back and more in the sixth, putting up three runs. Junior outfielder Luke Rivara (Lake Worth, Fla./Saint John Paul II Academy) came around to score on an error, then with the bases loaded with nobody out, grad student outfielder Luke Jacobi (Edison, N.J./JP Stevens) singled to centerfield to bring in another run. Then with runners on the corners with one out, Baronian took off and came in to score after Jacobi was caught stealing at second.

The Rams went down 1-2-3 in the seventh, as the Setters took a 9-3 victory in game one.

McCabe had two hits and scored twice, while Goldstein drove in two runs as well. Gleason got the win on the mound, going five innings and allowing one run on four hits, along with three strikeouts.
 
To start game two, both teams went down in order in the first, but Jefferson jumped out to a lead in the second. With a runner on second and two outs, an error allowed Chris McLean to come around and score, then a second Setters error brought another run in for the visitors.

Pace got one back in the bottom of the second, as McCabe stepped up to lead off the inning and blasted one over the centerfield fence to cut the lead to 2-1.

Jefferson put up a pair of hits in the third but left both runners stranded. The Setters got the first two runners on in the bottom of the inning following a hit by freshman infielder Benjamin Tullo (Wappinger Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham Senior). After a Jefferson error, Jacobi singled to left center to bring a run in but was thrown out at second base when he slid off the bag. McCabe followed up with an RBI single to put the Setters ahead 3-2 after three.

Neither team was able to do anything offensively in the fourth, but Jefferson came back to take the lead once again in the fifth. After a leadoff walk, Jay Kalieta tripled to right center, tying the game. A sacrifice fly from Gabe Silva put the visitors in front 4-3. Pace went down in order in the fifth, and the Rams followed suit in the top of the sixth.

A pair of singled started off the sixth for Pace, and a walk loaded the bases with one out. With junior catcher Cole Resetar (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness) at the plate, back-to-back wild pitches put the Setters in front 5-4, then a fielder's choice brought in Labita from third. An infield single by Tullo put runners on first and second, but the Setters couldn't get them across and headed to the seventh holding a 6-4 lead.

An error and hit put runners on the corners in the top of the seventh, and an RBI single by Silva made it a one-run game. After a groundout and a walk, an error allowed the tying run to cross the plate. A bases-loaded walk put the Rams ahead, and they took a 7-6 lead to the last of the seventh.

A one-out walk but McCabe on first, and a wild pitch moved him to second with two outs. Following a balk that put him on third, a strikeout ended things with the tying run 90 feet away as the Rams won a back-and-forth affair by a 7-6 score.

 
Up Next
Pace will host Jefferson College in another doubleheader tomorrow, March 4. Game one is scheduled for noon.