PURCHASE, N.Y. - The Purchase College baseball team split a pair of Skyline Conference contests Saturday afternoon against the Dolphins of Mount Saint Vincent, losing the first and winning the finale.
Scores for the games were 1-0 and 6-1. With the split, the Panthers moved to 6-8 overall and 3-1 in the Skyline. Meanwhile, the Dolphins now sit at 10-6 and 1-1, respectively.
Game 1 - Mount Saint Vincent 1, Purchase 0 (7 inn.)
The first game of the day proved to be a defensive dual, with neither side plating a run until the final inning.
Purchase almost scored in the first, after
James May (SR/Floral Park, NY) walked, and
Christian Homa (SO/Fairfield, CT) and
Louis Carvell (JR/New York, NY) hit back-to-back singles to load the bases with two outs.
However, the guests escaped with a no runs allowed after a called strike three on
Myles Scarry (SO/Levittown, NY) during the ensuing at-bat.
Mount Saint Vincent then managed to get its own runner to third base in the top of the second, but failed to score him.
From that point on, neither side got a player to third base again until the top of the seventh when the Dolphins finally scored one.
To begin the frame, the visitors got a lead-off single, before moving the runner to second on a sacrifice bunt. Following a single, which put runners on first and third, the Dolphins executed another bunt, with this one driving in the only run of the day.
The Panthers' defense collected itself following the score, before attempting to tie the game in the bottom half of the frame.
After two outs started the inning,
Jason Sebastiano (SO/Brooklyn, NY) kept things alive with a single, before the Dolphins earned the final out on a pop up.
Purchase tallied five hits in total, with Homa collecting two of them. On the mound,
Ryan Castrataro (JR/Mahopac, NY) received the loss despite allowing just the one run on eight hits.
Game 2 - Purchase 6, Mount Saint Vincent 1
After the tough loss in game one, the Panthers responded in a big way in game two to earn a split decision on the day.
However, while the final score easily favored the hosts, much of the second contest played out just as closely as the first one did.
Purchase struck first in the win, as
Drew Stabinsky (SO/Floral Park, NY) crossed the plate during a Mount Saint Vincent double play in the second inning. One inning later, the guests hit an RBI-double to tie things up at 1-1, where the score stayed until the sixth.
In the frame,
Mason Compton (FR/Carmel, NY) scored the eventual winning run on a wild sequence, in which he stole third before advancing home on a throwing error by the shortstop.
After that, the hosts added four more runs in the bottom of the eighth and padded their lead to 6-1.
Even in victory, Purchase was outhit by the guests, 12-11, as the pitching combo of
Justin Doskoez (SO/Eastport, NY) and Stabinsky kept the runs at bay.
Doskoez earned his first-career win after throwing 108 pitches over seven innings. He allowed just the one run on 10 hits and struck out four. Stabinsky then came in the eighth, up 2-1, to closeout the final six outs and earn the save for Purchase.
Homa's bat remained hot in the second game, as he finished with a team-high three hits. Compton and Stabinsky each recorded two hits in the win.
Up next for the Panthers is more Skyline Conference home doubleheader action, as they welcome the Knights of Mount Saint Mary College tomorrow (3/27). First pitch is set for 11 a.m. and you can follow it here.
