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Box Score 2 LYNDHURST, N.J. – Felician University scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 6-6 tie an earn an eventual 9-8 Game 2 victory and a sweep of its Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference baseball doubleheader with visiting Dominican (N.Y.) College on Sunday afternoon at the Lyndhurst Recreation Complex. Felician had won the day's opening game, 8-2
The Golden Falcons (18-7, 9-1 CACC) are ranked No. 23 in the latest national NCAA Division II writers' poll. Felician, which has won 12 of its last 14 games, improved to 9-0 at home this season.
Twelve of the Golden Falcons' 20 hits on the day went for extra bases, including seven of eight in Game 2. Junior left fielder Matt Diesel (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) was a combined 4 for 7 and scored five runs.
Senior right-hander Rob Naughton (Levittown, N.Y./Chaminade) (3-0) worked seven strong innings for Felician in the opener. He scattered nine hits, yielding only an unearned run in the sixth. Naughton struck out five Charger hitters and walked one.
By the time Dominican (7-12, 2-4) dented the scoreboard, the Golden Falcons had staked Naughton to a 6-0 lead. J.R. Meneses (Lake Worth, Fla./Zion Lutheran), Jason Polgano (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) and Andrew LaMura (Brick, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) all stroked run-scoring singles in the bottom of the second. An RBI triple by Diesel highlighted Felician's three-run fifth.
Diesel was 2 for 4 with two triples and LaMura finished 3 for 4 with a double and two RBI for the Golden Falcons. Senior Arbely Soto (Bronx, N.Y./Urban Assembly) and sophomore Jordan Bernacet (Schenectady, N.Y./Schenectady) each had a triple among two hits for Dominican, which left 11 runners on base.
Game 2 was a scheduled seven-inning affair. The Chargers had scored three runs on three hits in the fifth, capped by a two-run double from Jayson Gray (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) to erase a three-run deficit and knot the game at 6-6. But Dominican errors on consecutive ground balls in the sixth put the Golden Falcons back in front, and a two-run double by Bruce Strickland (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) made it 9-6 after six.
The insurance runs provided by Strickland proved important when Felician closer Dan Naif (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Liberty) loaded the bases with none out in the top of the seventh. A run came home on Max Chidsey's (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast) fielder's choice grounder and another on a sacrifice fly by Max Franzone (Nanuet, N.Y./Trinity Pawling), but Naif got the next hitter to ground to third for his fifth save of the season. It was the 15th save of his career, tying the Felician record held by Matthew Facendo.
Sophomore Quinn Taylor (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) (2-0) was credited with the victory after working 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Diesel had a double and a home run and Menenes tripled and homered, while Strickland drove in three runs. Dominican's Anthony Bartolomei (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township) was 2 for 4 with a double.
Felician is home again on Tuesday for a CACC doubleheader against Goldey-Beacom College at 3 p.m. in Lyndhurst.
