ALBANY – The steady rain that fell throughout today’s game at Bob Bellizzi Field at the Plumeri Sports Complex did little to dampen the bats as The College of Saint Rose and Saint Michael’s put on a classic three hour and 50 minute slugfest that the Golden Knights ultimately won 22-14. The scheduled second half of the doubleheader was cancelled due to the weather.
The two teams pounded out 40 hits collectively, stranded a total of 24 runners on base and used 37 players, including nine pitchers, throughout the non-conference affair. Furthermore, the Golden Knights’ 22 runs are the most they scored since an identical 22-14 triumph versus Northeast-10 Conference rival Assumption on May 4, 2002.
Junior center fielder
Garret Keenan hit for the cycle and senior right fielder
Derek Marshall also homered for the Golden Knights (13-28). Keenan finished 5-for-6 with five RBI and four runs scored, while Marshall went 2-for-3 with three RBI.
Senior first baseman
Paul Partridge and junior third baseman
Grant Smith also had big days as did a pair of rookies. Partridge wound up 3-for-5 with three RBI, while Smith finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored. Freshman left fielder
Scott Hladik went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and a walk, while freshman catcher
AJ Capone finished 2-fo-3 with three RBI.
Junior right-hander
Tom Wiener tossed 2.0 innings of no-hit ball out of the bullpen to collect the victory.
The game got off to an inauspicious start as Saint Michael’s (6-25-1) jumped out to an 8-0 lead after sending 14 batters to the plate in the top half of the first. Saint Rose cut its deficit in half in the bottom of the frame thanks to an RBI base hit by Marshall and Keenan’s three-run blast over the left-center field fence.
The Purple Knights boosted their advantage to 10-4 with another pair of runs in the second, but the Golden Knights got one back in the third via Marshall’s leadoff round-tripper, and then struck twice in the fourth to make it an 11-7 ballgame.
Wiener then came on and silenced the Saint Michael’s offense while Saint Rose batted around in the both fifth and sixth frames. The Golden Knights scored six runs on six hits in the fifth, and eight runs on a half dozen hits in the sixth that put them up 21-12. Hladik came across with what amounted to the winning run on a sacrifice fly by freshman center fielder
Justin Lewis.
Keenan pieced together his cycle with a base hit in the fifth after he reached on an error in the third following his first inning home run. He then laced a two-run double to left-center field in the sixth and completed the feat with a leadoff triple in the eighth.
Senior third baseman Jeff McLaughlin finished 3-for-6 with three RBI and sophomore first baseman Chad Estey drove in four runs with a three-RBI double in the first and fielder’s choice that scored the Purple Knights’ last run of the day in the eighth.
Up next, Saint Rose returns to conference action tomorrow with a 3:30 pm date at American International College in Springfield. Meanwhile, Saint Michael’s is home Wednesday for a 3:30 pm meeting with UMass Lowell.
Box Score