Baseball Stings American International With Ninth-Inning Run For 6-5 Victory

Baseball Stings American International With Ninth-Inning Run For 6-5 Victory

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. –  Powered by a balanced offense with every starter for the Concordia College New York baseball team recording a base hit, the Clippers broke a 5-5 stalemate against American International College on Sunday afternoon with a run in the top of the ninth before retiring the Yellow Jackets in order in the bottom half of the stanza to secure the 6-5 victory.

NOTES
• Concordia improves to 3-10.

• American Int'l falls to 1-5.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Junior center fielder Nick Vlahakis (Oceanside, N.Y.) went 2-4 with one run and one walk.

• Junior catcher Hermes Abreu (Bay Shore, N.Y.) went 2-5 with one run.

• Senior first baseman Joseph Impeduglia (Staten Island, N.Y.) went 1-4 with a double, RBI and walk.

• Senior designated hitter Peter Lawless (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) went 1-3 with two runs and two walks.

• Sophomore righty Logan Vallas (East Northport, N.Y.) got the start for Concordia, allowing four runs with one earned off four hits in 5.0 innings.

• Sophomore RHP Sean Malamud (Staten Island, N.Y.) got the victory on the mound after holding AIC to one run off two hits in 3.0 innings.

• Freshman pitcher Noel Vasquez (Washington Heights, N.Y.) earned the save after throwing a scoreless ninth inning.

• For American International, Angel Mendez went 2-4 with three RBI. James Flahive was credited with the loss after allowing two runs off two hits in 3.0 innings.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Leading off the top of the second with a single, senior right fielder Frank Coste (Queens, N.Y.) sent junior second baseman Jake Partridge (Bardonia, N.Y.) home for the first run of the contest off a sacrifice fly.

• AIC capitalized on a Clippers' error in the bottom of the second to keep the frame alive, resulting in a two-out single which scored two runs and flipped the one-run lead at 2-1.

• American International sent a baserunner home on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1.

• Extending the top of the fourth with a two-out walk, Lawless rounded the bases off a senior third baseman Andrew Medina (Brentwood, N.Y.) single to make it a one-run game at 3-2.

• A Concordia error in the bottom of the fourth allowed an AIC runner to score, pushing the Yellow Jackets to a 4-2 lead.

• Leading off the top of the fifth with a single, Vlahakis touched home base off an AIC error before an Impeduglia double sent sophomore right fielder Mat Rinaldi (Eastchester, N.Y.) home to even the score at 4-all.

• Reaching base off an American International error to begin the top of the eighth, Lawless gave Concordia a 5-4 edge off a two-out single from senior shortstop Kendell Luquis (New Rochelle, N.Y.).

• Leading off the bottom of the eighth with a double, AIC knotted the score at 5-5 on a wild pitch.

• Opening the final inning with a single, Abreu scored the game-winning run off a Yellow Jacket's error.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Concordia recorded 11 hits while AIC tallied six.

• The Clippers left 11 runners on base while American Int'l stranded six.

• Concordia committed three errors, resulting in three runs. The Yellow Jackets had four errors, allowing two runs to score.

UP NEXT
The baseball team plays its first game in the Empire State this season on Wednesday, Mar. 11 with a 3 p.m. matchup at Mercy College.

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