Box Score Purchase, NY
(March 25, 2015) – Talk about a bounce back.
Panther baseball has reeled off four straight wins since opening the season in the loss column against Manhattanville. In conference, Purchase swept Yeshiva over the weekend, followed that twin bill with a nice non-conference win against Rutgers-Newark earlier in the week and defeated FDU-Florham tonight 13-9 at home to improve to 4-1 through the season's first five games.
The Panthers, like most of the other teams in the northeast, have struggled to get their schedule back on track due to winter weather. Rain nearly delayed Wednesday's game, but around game time, it eased up and the Panthers were able to get started on time, battling an on-again, off-again pour throughout the evening.
Undeterred, Purchase scored six runs on six hits and was aided by two errors in the opening frame. FDU-Florham scored twice in the top of the second and scratched across a run in the third to cut the deficit to 6-3.
Purchase's six runs in the first were highlighted by a two-RBI single off the bat of reigning Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week
Chris Triano (JR/Greenwich, CT). Teammates
Frank Fantino (SR/Nanuet, NY) and
Elan Trischitta (SR/Saugerties, NY) followed with back-to-back doubles, plating Triano and Fantino for a speedy 4-0 advantage.
The Panthers tacked on a pair of runs for a commanding 6-0 margin.
Panther starter
Lukas Chin (FR/Rockland, NY) started strong and pitched well for the hosts, allowing two runs in the second and a single run in the third, while posting scoreless innings in the first and fourth. He was relieved in the fifth by rookie
Jacob Acee (FR/Buffalo, NY), who tossed a scoreless fifth to keep the 6-3 lead intact.
The middle innings brought more rain showers and made it tough on both teams before a steady rain settled in.
Purchase opened up the scoring in the fifth with five more runs against reliever Walter Pennett, who came into the game to start the inning.
The Panthers scored five runs on four hits in the frame. Shortstop
Teofilo Ramirez (JR/Queens, NY) and Triano both tripled in the inning, plating runs. Second baseman
Jay Ruiz (SR/Bronx, NY) also singled and drove in a run. A sacrifice bunt plated another, and newcomer, catcher
Anthony Bambach (JR/Yorktown, NY) singled and plated the other RBI in the inning.
The Devils showed their mettle in the late innings. Acee allowed five runs in the sixth, although he was relieved midway through the inning with the bases loaded by lefty
Jacob Vazquez (SO/Cortlandt Manor, NY).
The visitors tacked on a single run in the seventh on a solo home run by Vinny Bonnaccorso, which sliced the deficit to two runs, but Vazquez settled in and kept it 11-9 through the rest of the seventh and eighth, which was closed on a high note thanks to Trischitta, who scooped a ball in the dirt at first base to close the door on the inning.
The Panthers added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth with Fantino doubling to right center, Trischitta singling and
Robert Michael (SO/LaGrangeville, NY) plating Fantino on an RBI single. The second run came home on an error and RBI by
Mathew Chavez (JR/Queens, NY).
Vazquez earned the win in relief, his second of the season, tossing a scoreless ninth.
FDU-Florham (1-9) was paced by Bonnaccorso, who homered and went 2 for 4 with three runs scored and two RBI on the night.
The Panthers totaled 17 hits and were led by Ramirez, Ruiz and Triano. Ramirez went 4 for 5 with one RBI and two runs; Ruiz went 3 for 5 with two runs and one RBI; and Triano went 2 for 4 with three RBI. Eight hitters collected two or more hits for the Panthers in the win.
Baseball returns to action this weekend on the road at CMSV Saturday and MSMC Sunday.
