(Old Westbury, NY) – Despite a 16-day layoff that encompassed the Easter Holiday Weekend and three consecutive rain-outs, the Mount Saint Vincent Baseball team finally returned to the diamond on Tuesday when they traveled to Old Westbury for a Skyline Conference twin-bill. And while the Mount Saint Vincent bats may have been a little rusty from the lay-off, their pitching arms were not and the resulting split proved once again that the young Mount team can compete with the upper echelon of a parity-laden Skyline Conference. The Dolphins dropped the opener, 8-0 but then rebounded for a thrilling 3-0 win in the night-cap that improved the Mount to 12-15 overall and 4-8 in Skyline play.
The opener was a closer game than the score indicated as sophomore pitcher Jon O'Leary (Bohemia, NY/Connetquot HS) allowed only two earned runs over seven innings of work, but the Mount managed only two hits and the Panthers clung to a 3-0 lead heading into the eighth. Old Westbury exploded for five runs in the bottom of the eighth for the 8-0 final. O'Leary was excellent once again, striking out two batters during seven innings of work, but the defense behind him failed as the Dolphins committed five errors that led to a crucial unearned run in the sixth inning.
The night-cap proved to be one of the best pitching duels of the season as junior Joe Orgovan (Norwalk, CT/Rockland CC) allowed only two hits while his counterpart allowed only one. The game boiled down to control on the mound as Orgovan walked only two batters while a trio of Panther pitchers combined to allow 12 walks, and the wildness on the mound came back to haunt Old Westbury in the latter innings. The Dolphins scored a run in the top of the fifth and two more in the top of the sixth. All three runs came after Old Westbury walked the bases loaded as Nick Triolo (Homer, NY/Homer Central HS) scored twice while Zach Munroe (Milford, CT/Foran HS) scored the third Mount tally.
But the story of the game was Orgovan, who was in command from the opening pitch. He struck out six, and only allowed five balls out of the infield to improve to 4-2 on the season. Orgovan and O'Leary remain one of the best one-two pitching punches in the Skyline Conference as the duo has a combined 8-5 record with a 2.33 and 1.91 ERA, respectively.
Mount Saint Vincent returns to action on April 26 when they travel to CUNY power John Jay for a 4:00 p.m. non-conference game.
