PURCHASE, N.Y. - The Purchase College baseball team opened the year in epic fashion Saturday afternoon, as
Sam Saltzman hit a walk-off single to give the Panthers a win over Vassar College in game two of a doubleheader.
The win came after the Brewers of Vassar prevailed in game one, 4-2.
The hosts then won the final contest by the score of 6-5. With the results, both squads sit at 1-1 to start the season.
Game One: Vassar 4, Purchase 2 (7 inn.)
To begin, it was guests that stuck first, after a double steal in the top of the second allowed a run in.
In the bottom half of the inning, freshman
Liam Daly (Babylon, NY) led off with an inside-the-park homer in his first collegiate at-bat to tie things at 1-1.
From there, Vassar responded with two more runs in the third, before an error in the bottom of the fourth allowed Saltzman (SO/Old Bethpage, NY) to score for Purchase, pushing the score to 3-2 in favor of the guests.
An RBI-double in the sixth then extended the margin for the Brewers, leaving the Panthers in a hole down the home stretch.
After failing to produce anything in the sixth, the Panthers nearly stole game one in the seventh after getting runners on second and third with two outs to go. Unfortunately, Purchase couldn't manage the hit it needed and fell in the contest, 4-2.
For the Panthers, starting pitcher
Myles Scarry (JR/Levittown, NY) was tagged with the loss. He went 4.0 innings, allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits and tallied six strikeouts along the way.
Saltzman and
Matt Castrogiovanni (FR/Massapequa Park, NY) each recorded a double.
Game Two: Purchase 6, Vassar 5 (7 inn.)
Following the opening game defeat, the Panthers looked to right the ship with a solid performance in game two.
However, after two scoreless innings to start, the guests exploded for back-to-back home runs and three runs overall in the third frame to jump ahead early.
The Brewers maintained that status until the bottom of the fifth, when it was the Panthers' turn for some fireworks.
Despite having two early outs in the frame, Purchase managed to load the bases with a walk, a single and an error, setting the stage for Saltzman's initial hero moment.
With the bases loaded, the sophomore crushed a double to deep center field that would have emptied the bases had the ball not bounced over the field for a ground-rule double.
As a result, the Panthers trimmed the margin to 3-2, and still had two runners on base for Daly.
The freshman responded with his second homerun of the day, this time clearing the center-field fence to push Purchase ahead, 5-3, as he was mobbed at the plate by teammates.
Despite the quick deficit, the Brewers weren't fazed as they answered right back with two runs in the sixth, tying the contest up at 5-5.
Purchase and Vassar then failed to score any runs in the bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh, respectively, setting the stage for the Panthers' walk-off win.
After an leadoff out, Castrogiovanni drew a walk and stole second base, before a fly ball put Purchase at two outs.
Luckily for the hosts, the man of the hour,
Sam Saltzman was coming up to bat, and he provided the spark the team needed once again.
Saltzman crushed the ball right up the center of the field, leaving the pitcher, shortstop and second baseman with no play, as Castrogiovanni used an awesome break from second to cruise on home to his teammates waiting to celebrate.
The walk-off hit was the icing on the cake for Saltzman, who finished game two with two hits (one double), three RBIs and a run.
Tristen Abreu (FR/Mineola, NY) finished with two hits in the win, while Castrogiovanni tallied two walks, a stolen base and the winning run.
On the mound,
Ryan Castrataro (SR/Mahopac, NY) went 5.0 innings in the no-decision effort. He allowed four runs on six hits and struckout five.
KJ Dow (FR/East Northport, NY) collected the win after he tossed two innings of relief work.
Up next for the baseball team is matchup with Eastern Connecticut State on March 8th. That single game contest will begin at 3 p.m. and you can follow it right here.
