By JOSHUA NATOLI
Sports Editor
Saturday afternoon was not particularly good for the Golden Knights Baseball team. Saint Rose lost both ends of a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader this past Saturday afternoon against the New Haven Chargers (20-11 overall/ 13-7 NE-10) at the Christian Plumeri Sports Complex. The Golden Knights (6-33 overall/ 3-16 NE-10) lost by a combined score of 26-17, losing the first matchup 18-14, then the second 8-3.
The first game saw plenty of hits, as the score will show. The Chargers broke the game wide open in the top of the second inning, with ten batters stepping up to the plate. Senior Andrew Johnson got the ball rolling with an RBI single followed by a bases-clearing three-run triple by junior Brendon Buckley. After the top of the second inning was said and done the Chargers were up 11-0. The Golden Knights got on the board after a double by junior Scott Hladik made the game 11-2.
The Chargers would add four runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, highlighted by an RBI double by freshman Nick Nunziato. The Golden Knights were finally able to make some ground in the sixth and seventh innings. Sophomore Zac Bellinger sent a two-run home run over the right center-field fence, followed by another RBI double by Hladik. Chargers freshman lefty Connor Moriarty proceeded to hit freshman Patrick Griffin and sophomore Lukas Nethaway, both times with bases loaded to bring the score to 15-7.
After a sacrifice fly brought the Chargers lead to 16-7, the Golden Knights stormed back to bring the game closer than ever. Saint Rose brought the score nearly even at 16-14 after an eighth inning rally highlighted by RBI singles from Bellinger and Nethaway.
New Haven made sure the Golden Knights could not pull off the upset after a RBI triple by Nunziato followed by a RBI single from Johnson in the ninth.
Golden Knights sophomore starter Bryan Carr picked up the loss after giving up 11 runs in three innings pitched. New Haven junior starter Henry Hirsch picked up the win after pitching six inning and giving up four runs.
The second game did not see nearly the same amount of runs cross the plate. Both teams’ bats remained quiet until the fourth inning when freshman Chad Adams put the Golden Knights on top 1-0 with a RBI single. The Chargers bounced back to take the lead in the sixth and seventh innings with RBI singles by sophomore Brendan O’Reilly and Johnson.
The Golden Knights fired back in the seventh inning when freshman Derek Reed hit an RBI single and junior Joseph Carconne reached first base on a throwing error which allowed Reed reach home safely.
The Golden Knights were four outs away from victory when the Chargers took the lead in the eighth inning when senior Joe Romanelli shot a RBI single up the middle to tie it, followed by an two-run double by junior Kyle Cullen to make it a 5-3 game. New Haven also added three insurance runs in the top half of the ninth inning with RBI singles from senior Stephen Clout and junior Chris DeMorais, the latter counting for two runs, making it a 8-3 final score.
The loss went to Golden Knights freshman reliever Joe Pokrentowski. New Haven senior Frank Vilacha picked up the win, while junior John Melville got the save.
Golden Knights shortstop Carconne thought that his team had trouble finishing the victory, “All season we’ve had trouble closing out games, just getting the last outs,” said Carconne. “We got a little lackadaisical at the end. We’ve got to take this and realize that we need to get all 27 (outs) not 21. Right now we have to learn how to respect the game a little more, learn the game a little bit better and try to get a good momentum for the last games we’ve got.”
Looking ahead, the Golden Knights’ next matchup will be another doubleheader at home, this time against NE-10 opponent Assumption starting at 3:30 p.m.
