Purchase, NY (March 13, 2016) – Runs were at a premium for the better part of Sunday's doubleheader, but Purchase made them count on the diamond, sweeping the City College of New York in both ends of a non-conference twin bill at home.

Purchase, which improved to 4-5 in the two wins, won game one in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the seventh inning, 1-0, and closed the afternoon in a 7-5 victory against the Beavers that wasn't decided until late in game two. 

Game one starting pitchers Lukas Chin (SO/Spring Valley, NY) and Anthony Cacchione matched zeroes through the first six innings.

Chin cruised through the fourth, when he allowed a one-out double to Adrian Pena.  He bounced back with a strikeout and a 6-3 ground out to end the threat.

In the fifth, he did the same, backed by some nice defense by the Panthers. With two outs and a runner in scoring position – on base by a hit by pitch and in scoring position on a steal of second base – Chin allowed a single to leadoff hitter Elmy Antonio. The drive up-the-middle could have scored Uche Nwokelo, but on the relay home, catcher Brenden LaPorte (SR/Farmington, CT) charged up the line, cut off the throw and held the runner at third. He then promptly gunned down Antonio trying to advance to second, ending the inning. 

For the Panthers, Purchase had a runner thrown out at the plate in the second and left two stranded in the inning. Cacchione, a hard-throwing left-hander, navigated around some early trouble and like Chin, settled in on the hill. He tossed one-two-three innings in the third and fourth before Brian Cunningham (FR/Westbury, NY) singled in the fifth. Cacchione bounced back, inducing back-to-back groundballs to himself to keep the shutout going into the sixth.

With one out in the sixth, LaPorte beat out an infield single to short, but was thrown out trying to steal second shortly later. Purchase, like CCNY, failed to score through six, as both teams matched zeroes and held three hits apiece heading into the seventh.

Sandwiched between two ground outs, Chin struck out one more in the top of the seventh en route to his second one-two-three inning of the game.

Still scoreless in the bottom of the seventh, Mathew Chavez (SR/Brooklyn, NY) smashed a leadoff double to start the inning. CCNY decided to intentionally walk Patrick Rucci (JR/Cortlandt  Manor, NY) to play for the force in the infield. Cacchione recorded the first out on a comebacker, but Cunningham would come through and play the role of hero in the opener. He lined a shot down the third-base line that plated pinch-runner Elias Sayad (JR/Wayne, NJ) for the game winner. Cunningham was mobbed by his teammates rounding first – his walk-off hit providing the finishing touches on an outstanding start by Chin.

Chin improved to 2-0 on the season. He struck out nine over seven innings, limiting CCNY to three hits in the complete game shutout.

Cacchione was the hard-luck loser, falling to 0-4. He struck out three and walked three over 6 1/3.

In game two, starting pitchers Dominic Micara (FR/Massapequa, NY) and Sacha Urbach matched zeroes through the first two innings.

Micara hurled a scoreless, one-two-three top of the third.

But the Panthers broke through against Urbach in the bottom half of the frame, scoring four runs. 

With one out, Sayad singled to start the rally. A walk by LaPorte put runners on first and second for Teofilo Ramirez (JR/Queens, NY). The captain came through with an RBI single. Chavez followed and ripped another single, plating two more. Chavez would then score from first on a pickoff attempt gone bad. The error by Urbach allowed Chavez to come all the way around for a commanding 4-0 lead.

In the fourth, a triple by Gregory Walsh (FR/Bethpage, NY) paved the way for Purchase's fifth run. Sayad followed immediately after Walsh with an RBI single, his second base hit of the game.

CCNY (0-16) scored its lone run in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit to 5-1. The Beavers manufactured a run on a leadoff single, a sacrifice and another groundout before a Cacchione RBI single brought in the run.

Purchase answered back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by a two-RBI single by Cunningham that plated Chavez, who walked, and Rucci, who singled.

The Beavers, in search of their first win of the spring, would not go quietly, scoring two runs on three hits in the sixth. The inning was highlighted by an RBI single by Joe Bystrik and a steal of home by Matt Sola-Baker on an attempted pickoff at first.

But Micara was able to finish off the sixth, capping his afternoon on the mound with a strikeout. He earned the win, improving to 1-0, after the Panther bullpen navigated around some trouble in the seventh. 

Hayden Park (FR/Rockville Centre, NY) came on in relief in the seventh, but left after allowing the first two runners to reach base. Jacob Vazquez (JR/Cortlandt Manor, NY) came in and induced a double play, but the Beavers rallied for two more runs on an Adrian Pena single before the Panther lefty got out of the jam and recorded the vulture save in relief – his first of the season. 

The Panthers will look to build off the two wins, when they continue their home stand Tuesday, welcoming Anderson Hill Road neighboring rival Manhattanville College to Purchase for a single, non-conference game. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m. at the Purchase turf field complex.