Baseball Edges Mercy, 2-1, For Fifth Win In A Row
Three-Game Showdown On Friday And Saturday Versus Molloy Now Set To Determine Final ECC Playoff Spot
West Haven, Conn.-The University of Bridgeport baseball team capitalized on four Mercy College errors to score all their runs and saw four pitchers limit the Mavericks to only one run on five hits with 10 strikeouts, as the Purple Knights nipped Mercy, 2-1, in an East Coast Conference game played at West Haven High School on Wednesday night. With the win, the team's fifth straight victory, UB is now 14-18 overall and 10-11 in conference action. Mercy falls to 7-37 overall and finished 4-20 in the ECC.
With the game tied at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, Bridgeport scored what proved to the game-winning run when senior Matt Ranaudo (Milford, Conn.) had a one-out single to right, and he scored when the next batter, junior Mike Olszyk (Hamden, Conn.) slashed a double down the left field line that the Mercy leftfielder bobbled in the corner which allowed Ranaudo score after the stop sign was put up at third base.
Junior, left-hander Garrett Rogers (Rennselear, N.Y.), the third Bridgeport pitcher of the night, picked up the win, as he hurled two innings of hitless ball in which he fanned four batters. Rogers is now 1-2 on the season.
Sophomore Ryan Garcia (Franklin Square, N.Y.) notched the save on Wednesday working the final two innings in which he allowed only one hit, and he struck out three Mavericks.
The Purple Knights now head into their final three games of the regular season which will all be against the Molloy College Lions, and the winner of the series will claim the final spot in the 2012 East Coast Conference Baseball Championship Tournament that will begin on May 10. The three-game set opens on Friday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. with doubleheader at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard and will conclude with a single game hosted by Molloy at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.