|
GBM College - Lions Roarin' Into NCAA Tourney |
|
|
|
|
Written by Chip Armonaitis
|
|
Friday, 16 May 2008 |
 Gotham’s first team is in to the Division I World Series, and a team
Gotham slated to be playing in the post-season is going home after this
week in college baseball. But before we get to all of the week's college news and notes, let's see who won this week's "Beast of the Week" presented by Mattingly Baseball.
 "Beast of the Week": Henry Perkins (Columbia) - This is the time of the year where contributions from your best players are a must, and roles are thrown out the window. In a three-game, win or go home setting, both Columbia victories had Perkins hands all over them. In game one of the Ivy Group championship series, playing second base, Perkins had four hits and two runs scored in a Columbia victory.
In the deciding Game Three, Perkins had a hit, two RBI, and threw four innings of one-hit relief, striking out three in picking up his first save of the year.
Team of the Week: Columbia - The first team to clinch a bid to the NCAA Tournament is from Gotham. At this time of the year, it is win or go home, and the Lions get to keep playing.
Conference Coverage Provided By
Ivy League
Gehrig Division champion Columbia outlasted Rolfe Division champion Dartmouth, winning the first and third games of their championship series, and earning the Ivy’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Lions won 7-5 on Wednesday afternoon to capture the title, and withstood losing a 4-0 lead to bounce back and win the title.
The Lions won the opener, 11-7, on Tuesday, before dropping the nightcap, 16-15, in a wild game that saw Dartmouth, score in the top of the ninth to gather the victory.
The keystone combination of Alex Ferrara and Henry Perkins was the key to the Columbia win, as Ferrera slammed two home runs, driving in four, in the finale, with Perkins chipping two hits and four innings of one-hit relief. Perkins and Ferrara were steady offensive performers thoughout, as Perkins had four hits in the opener (a Columbia win) and drove in five in the series.
Ferrara drove in six over the final two games for the Lions, who now await their seeding the NCAA tournament, which starts on May 30.
Patriot League
Army, which started out the season slowly, only to finish strong to win the Patriot League, had their season ended unexpectedly, as Bucknell edged the Black Knights, two games to one, in the Patriot League playoffs. The Black Knights dropped two nail-biters to the Bison, while cruising to a comfortable game two victory.
Game One saw the Bison edge Army, 5-4 in 10 innings, as the Bucknell scored a run off Ben Koenigfeld, on in relief of starter Drew Clothier. Bucknell shortstop Ben Allen, who had four hits, homered leading off the 10th to break the tie. Army centerfielder Andy Ernesto had three hits in the loss.
The Black Knights bounced back strong in the second game, trouncing the Bison 12-3 behind Matt Fouch’s strong pitching, and the hitting of Clint Moore, Kevin McKague, Chris Simmons and JP Polchinski. Moore drove in three runs with three hits, while McKague, Simmons and Polchinski each drove in two. Moore (5), Polchinski (4) and Simmons (8) all homered.
Game Three saw the Cadets send Cole White to the mound, and White, in his final start as a Cadet, was strong, yielding five hits and one run to the Bison in eight innings. Unfortunately for the Black Knights, Bucknell’s eric Jarrett and Jason Burrsma were better, shutting the Black Knights down on two hits, for 1-0 victory.
The series was played at Army’s Doubleday Field, with Army the home team in games one and three, with the Bison being the home team in game two. The visiting team won all three games.
Atlantic 10
Tom Davis can graduate at the end of Fordham’s season knowing that he did his part in trying to the Rams into the Atlantic 10 playoffs. It is just the rest of the pitching staff that came up short. Davis improved to 8-2, with a 3-1 victory in the series opener against Xavier, allowing eight hits, and one run, while striking out four.
The Musketeers knocked the rest of the staff around, with 12-2 and 11-3 victories, dealing the Rams playoff hopes a severe blow.
The scenario for the Rams to qualify for the Atlantic 10 tournament is simple:
Fordham must sweep Massachusetts (who has the slightest of chances to make the tournaments if everyone in front on them collapses.)
St. Bonaventure must lose at least two of three to Richmond
Dayton loses at least one game to Duquense.
A St. Bonaventure win guarantees the Bonnies at least a tie for sixth. Dayton and Fordham are tied at 11-13, while St. Bonaventure is 13-11.
Big East
St. John’s magic number is two to clinch the regular season Big East title, and the first seed in the Big East Tournament. Any combination of two Red Storm victories and Notre Dame losses (the Fightin Irish travel to South Florida this weekend while St. John’s goes to Villanova) and the Red Storm have the top spot.
Meanwhile Rutgers needs to make up a game on eighth place South Florida or seventh place Villanova over the weekend to avoid having their season end early. Rutgers, which travels to Louisville over the weekend, sits at 10-14 in conference, while the Bulls and Wildcats are 11-13.
Seton Hall, the surprise team of the Big East, has already clinched its spot in the post-season, and plays conference also-ran Georgetown in a three-game series over the weekend. Depending on results of the weekend, the Pirates can finish anywhere from third to sixth.
The Pirates lost two of three at home to Cincinnati over the weekend, with Sean Black pitching eight innings, allowing four hits in a 5-2 victory. The Bearcats earned a 4-1 victory in the opener, and a 7-1 in the series rubber game on Sunday,.
Rutgers also stumbled over the weekend, losing two of three games to Villanova in a key series. Rutgers got strong relief pitching from Ryan Beard, who gave the Scarlet Knights four innings of one-hit relief, in winning a 5-4 decision in 12 innings. But the Scarlet Knights dropped the final two games, losing Saturday’s nightcap, 7-4, and Sunday’s rubber match, 2-1. Rutgers squandered solid pitching of Kyle Bradley and
Kevin Lillis, who limited Villanova to just four hits on the afternoon.
The Red Storm hosted South Florida over the weekend, winning the first two games, 8-1 and 4-3, in 10 innings, before dropping a 9-2 decision on Sunday. Scott Barnes improved to 6-3 in the opener, while George Brown, in an attempt to win his 10th game, gave the Red Storm 7.1 solid innings, allowing three runs, but received a no-decision for his efforts.
St. John’s pulled out the victory in the 10th, after rallying from a 3-1 deficit in the ninth on run-scoring hits by Dan Benedetti and Tim Morris. Greg Grantham homered leading off the bottom of the 10th to give closer Colin Lynch his third victory of the season.
Northeast Conference
After rain cancelled Friday’s schedule, it became doubleheader weekend, and Monmouth won three of four, solidifying their lead in the NEC, but losing a chance at a 40-win season. After a 8-2 win over Fairleigh Dickinson in the series opener, the Hawks dropped a 2-0, seven inning decision to the Knights in the nightcap. Brad Brach picked up the win in the opener, allowing one run in six innings, while FDU’s John O’Hara’s complete game three hitter bested Matt Marc-Aurele in the nightcap.
Sunday was an offensive day for Monmouth as they trounced FDU, 8-5 and 19-5. Ryan Terry drove in four runs in the opener, while Kyle Higgins and Shaun Teters each drove in four runs in the nightcap. Brett Brach improved to 4-2 as the beneficiary of the nightcap’s offensive outburst, while Nick Valillo picked his third victory, without a loss, with three innings of shutout relief in the opener.
Monmouth sits at 19-5 in conference play, and 34-13 with five games left to play in the season, and has a magic number of two to take the NEC regular season crown. Central Connecticut, (17-7) is second while Wagner (14-10) is third. The final spot is a toss-up as Mount St. Mary’s (10-10) and Scared Heart (9-10) battle for position.
Sacred Heart visits Wagner over the weekend, while MSM plays at Quinnipiac. Quinnipiac severely damaged Sacred Heart’s chances this past weekend, winning three of four, including decisive 22-0 and 12-0 shutouts, after taking the opener, 3-2. The Pioneers were able to salvage the final game of the series, 8-5, on Sunday.
Wagner, meanwhile clinched a spot in post-season, despite losing three of four to Central Connecticut. With games with NY Tech and Sacred Heart over this week, the Seahawks, currently 23-25, will be searching for an elusive .500 season with a good week.
FDU’s O'Hara joins a pair a Quinnipiac infielders on the Akadema Northeast Conference Baseball Weekly Honor Roll after all three individuals helped keep their team's NEC Tournament hopes alive this past weekend.
After powering the Bobcats' offense to a 42-run weekend, Quinnipiac senior third baseman John Delaney wins the Akadema NEC Player of the Week award while his freshman teammate Mickey Amanti is the Akadema NEC Rookie of the Week. Delaney was a near-impossible out for opposing pitchers during Quinnipiac’s series victory over intra-state rival Sacred Heart, posting a .650 on-base percentage and batting at a .625 clip. Delaney went 10-of-16 at the plate with five doubles, a triple, two walks, seven RBI, and eights runs scored.
Amanti upped his season average to .320 thanks to a .375 clip (6-for-16) over four games this weekened. The freshman second baseman scored three runs and drove in another five, one which came on a ninth-inning sacrifice fly and provided the final margin in Saturday’s 3-2 win. The rookie Bobcat enjoyed his best game of the week during Sunday’s 12-0 rout, going 3-for-5 with a double, a run, and four RBI.
MAAC
A three-game sweep of St. Peter’s kept Manhattan in the race for the top spot in the MAAC, as Canisius ran its winning streak to seven with a three-game sweep of Manhattan. The Jaspers, 16-5 in MAAC play, are one game behind the Golden Griffins, with just three games to play. Canisius visits Niagara, while Manhattan plays at Fairfield.
Siena has surged into third place at 13-8, and with an eight-game win streak, has jumped back over the .500 mark. Both Manhattan and Canisius have seven game win steaks, but the rest of the conference is in reverse, as no one else has a plus .-500 record in their last 10 games.
Rider, (12-9) the current fourth place team, is just 2-8 over its past 10, having lost three non-conference games to LeMoyne. They face St. Peter’s, the loser’s of three straight to the Jaspers, and a disappointing 6-15.
Fairfield gets the Jaspers this weekend, and is 11-10, and just one back of the final spot in the MAAC tournament.
Kevin Nieto led the Jaspers to a 4-0 week with a .438 batting average and notched seven RBIs and two triples. His two triples set a program record placing him atop Manhattan’s career triples list with 10 over just two seasons in Riverdale. Nieto stole his 17th base of the season, and harbored a .500 on base percentage on the week.
Salem hit .571, connected on two doubles and posted a 1.286 slugging percentage while helping Manhattan to a three-game MAAC sweep of Saint Peter’s last week. He drove in three RBIs and recorded his eighth home run of the season, a team-high. Salem notched a .692 on base percentage and .929 fielding percentage over three starts at third base.
America East
Stony Brook and Binghamton are tied at 13-7 in the top spot of the America East conference, heading into the final week of play. The Seawolves have a four-game set with Albany 7-13 in AE Play, while Binghamton battles 10-10 Vermont.
Stony Brook junior outfielder Steven Mazzurco captured the America East Player of the Week, batting .579 for the week with eight RBI, four runs and a stolen base. He went 7-for-9 with five RBI in the Seawolves’ doubleheader split with UMBC on Sunday, including a 5-for-6 performance in the 16-5 victory. The junior outfielder also went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Stony Brook’s 5-1 win over the Retrievers in the first game on Saturday, including the go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning. Mazzurco is now batting .373 on the season.
Senior Tom Koehler allowing just one run and five hits in 8.0 innings in the Seawolves 5-1 win over UMBC on Saturday, striking out 12 .
Division II
C.W. Post defeated the University of New Haven , 5-1, to win its first-ever East Coast Conference Baseball Championship title to advance to its first NCAA Northeast Regional since 1985. With the win, the Pioneers improve their season record to 29-25 while New Haven drops to 24-25.
Junior catcher Brian Anderson , who tallied eight hits and four RBI in the tournament was named the Most Valuable Player.
Bruce Testa led the Pioneers with three hits with an RBI and a run scored while Chenicek had one hit and two runs scored.
Conference Coverage Provided By
|
|
|
GOTHAM SPORTS MEDIA NETWORK
Gotham Sponsor
Who's Online
We have 1 guest online
Gotham Sponsor
|
