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Box Score 2 WATERBURY, Conn. – Senior right fielder Ronnie Grant (Burlington, N.J.) went 4 for 8 and drove in six runs as Felician University swept a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference baseball doubleheader from host Post University, 12-2 and 6-4, on Friday evening at Municipal Stadium.
With the pair of wins, Felician (29-10, 18-2) secured outright possession of the 2017 CACC regular-season championship, its second such title in a row and fourth overall. The Golden Falcons also claimed first place in the conference in 2002, 2012, and 2016. Felician will be the top seed in the upcoming CACC Championship tournament, the main draw of which will be held at Municipal Stadium from May 11-13.
Felician is ranked No. 16 in the most recent national NCAA Division II writers' poll, and is 29th in Collegiate Baseball magazine's national D-II poll.
Senior pitcher/designated hitter Brennan Price (Middlesex, N.J.) knocked in a run in each game. He tied Felician Hall-of-Famer Frank Quintana (2004-07) for the Golden Falcons' all-time record for runs batted in, with 147. Price was also the winning pitcher in Game 1, producing his best outing of the season.
The 6-foot-9 right-hander tossed seven shutout frames. He carried a no-hitter into the sixth, before Post senior Rafael Tous (Flemington, N.J.) led off with a single. Tous, however, was immediately erased on a double play. Price (3-0) faced just two batters over the minimum, striking out three batters, walking one and hitting one.
Price also staked the Golden Falcons to an early lead when he followed Andrew LaMura's (Brick, N.J.) double with a run-scoring single in the first inning. That 1-0 score held until the fourth, when Felician plated two runs on RBI hits by Ralph Caccavale (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Grant. The visitors blew the game open with five fifth-inning runs, a rally highlighted by a two-run double from junior Matt Diesel (Massapequa Park, N.Y.).
Two-run singles by Bruce Strickland (Hazlet, N.J.) and Jason Polgano (Bronx, N.Y.) in the seventh put Felician ahead, 12-0. The Eagles (16-21-1, 10-8) picked up an unearned run in the eighth, and Jared Zima (Berlin, Conn.) drove in a run with a ninth-inning groundout.
Felician out-hit the Eagles, 14-3. Diesel and Polgano were on base four times each for the Golden Falcons.
Grant helped the Golden Falcons recover from an early 3-0 deficit in Game 2. His two-run triple jump-started a three-run third-inning rally before Price tied the game two batters later with an RBI single. Post took the lead in the fifth when Rosario Missiti (Belmont, Mass.) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Grant struck again in the sixth, lacing a two-out, two-run double, with Diesel racing home all the way from first base with the go-ahead run.
Felician scored what proved to be a valuable insurance run in the top of the seventh. Strickland doubled with one out and scored on a single by Matt Kleinstein (Marlboro, N.J.). In the home half, Golden Falcon closer Dan Naif (Jackson, N.J.) retired the first hitter, but then issued two walks and a single to load the bases. But Naif induced a comebacker and threw home to catcher Kleinstein to initiate a game-ending 1-2-3 double-play. It was his seventh save of the season.
Caccacavale joined Grant in having two hits in each game. Kleinstein was 2 for 3 plus a walk in the nightcap. Sophomore Quinn Taylor (Marlton, N.J.) (3-0) was credited with the victory after pitching 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief.
Felician wraps up regular-season conference play with a doubleheader at noon on Saturday against Caldwell University at the Kiwanis Oval.
