Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 POMONA, N.Y. – The Felician University baseball team set a program record with its 10th consecutive victory when it defeated host Dominican (N.Y.) College, 8-7, in Game 1 of the teams' Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Palisades Credit Union Park. The Chargers ended that streak by taking Game 2, 12-1.
Junior right fielder Sean Downey (Elizabeth, N.J.) hit a home run in each game for Felician (16-11, 14-3 CACC).
The opening game saw four Golden Falcon pitchers combine for 14 strikeouts, including 10 in four innings by the bullpen. Dominican left 12 men on base. Leading 3-1, after two innings, Felician struck for four runs in the fourth, a rally capped by Downey's two-out, two run round-tripper.
But the Chargers reached Felician senior right-hander Alex Schwartz (Absecon, N.J.) for two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to pull within 7-6. Golden Falcon senior Mike Martinez (Union City, N.J.) and Downey put together consecutive doubles in the sixth to tack on a run, but Dominican received an RBI single from Bobby Garbuio (Chappaqua, N.Y.) in the seventh to restore the one-run deficit.
Felician left-hander Justin Tucker (Neptune, N.J.) entered in the seventh and escaped a second-and-third, one-out jam with two strikeouts to preserve his team's lead. Tucker faced another second-and-third situation in the eighth, this time with two outs, and induced a comeback ground ball. But he ran into trouble again in the ninth, allowing a single and a walk with one out. The Golden Falcons called on another southpaw, Darwin Matos (Clifton, N.J.), who fanned both hitters he faced for his second save.
Downey drove in three runs and was one of six Golden Falcons with a pair of hits. Schwartz (5-1) gave up six runs (five earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts over five innings. Arthur Quinones (Miami, Fla.) was 4 for 5 and Joshua Colon (Bronx, N.Y.) and Benjamin Meza (Miami, Fla.) each homered for Dominican (15-12, 9-10).
Game 2 was scheduled for seven innings, and Charger senior lefty Eric Sandusky (Stony Point, N.Y.) (2-0) went the distance on a four-hitter. The only blemish on his line was Downey's first-inning blast. His counterpart, Felician junior right-hander Michael Gutierrez (Garfield, N.J.) carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning. But after hitting a batter with one out, Gutierrez (4-2) yielded four consecutive hits, and Dominican went on to break the game open with seven runs in the frame.
Sandusky threw 96 pitches, including 61 for strikes. He struck out seven Golden Falcons and walked two. Quinones had two more hits to finish 6 for 8 on the day, and Charger second baseman Carmine Giordano (New Rochelle, N.Y.) went 2 for 3 with a double and three RBI.
Felician was playing for the first time since April 19. The Golden Falcons had three other winning streaks of nine games, in 2016, 2018 and 2019.
Felician plays a makeup doubleheader against Goldey-Beacom College on Monday at 1 p.m. at Raritan Valley Community College.
