The LIU Post baseball team started out a crucial four-game set on Thursday, April 2 with a 9-3 rout of the Spartans from St. Thomas Aquinas College at the LIU Post Baseball Field in Brookville.
Sophomore pitcher Jake DeCarli tossed seven strong innings, striking out six Spartans and allowing just one run on five hits.
While DeCarli kept the opposition at bay, the Pioneer offense went to work early and often, scoring all nine of their runs in the first four innings.
Sophomore outfielder Kenny Daley, graduate outfielder Vinny Iacono, junior infielder Matt Bowers, and junior shortstop Rick Alessi all collected multi-hit games.
The Pioneers returned to action on Saturday, Apr. 4, in a doubleheader against the Spartans. St. Thomas took both games by a score of 9-6 and 6-0, respectively. In the first game, the Pioneers jumped out to an early lead, but sophomore pitcher James Long ran into some trouble in the third inning. The Spartans evened up the score and then scored three more runs in the next two innings.
Trailing 4-1, the Pioneers put runs on the board in a rather unique way. After an RBI ground out plated junior first baseman David Goreneveld, the Pioneers tallied runs on a bases loaded hit by pitch and walk to even up the score at four. The Spartans answered the three-run rally with a few runs of their own, pushing their lead 7-4. The Spartans eventually took the game by a score of 9-6.
In the night cap, the Pioneers struggled at the dish and in the field, posting just four hits and committing eight errors. The Spartans were led by pitcher Nick May, who struck out six Pioneers in a seven inning effort to earn his third win of the season.
The four-game series came to a close Monday with an 8-0 St. Thomas win. Dan Jagiello took the loss, his first of the year, while Post was limited to just four hits.
The Pioneers are back in action on Friday, Apr. 10, when they return home to face Dowling College in a four game weekend series. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
This article was originally published in the Pioneer, the award-winning student newspaper of LIU Post, www.liupostpioneer.com, and is republished here by Blank Slate Media with the permission of the Pioneer.
