Game 1 Boxscore
Game 2 Boxscore
New Rochelle, N.Y. – Trailing 10-5 heading to the bottom of the seventh, the College of Mount Saint Vincent Baseball team rallied for a 12-11 walk-off win in game one of its Skyline Conference doubleheader with Purchase and then came from 3-1 down in the second game to earn a 7-3 victory to complete a sweep of the Panthers on senior day. Senior Fernando Suriel (Yonkers, N.Y.) played a big role in the Dolphins' game one comeback after hitting for just the second cycle in program history.
Mount Saint Vincent jumped in front 2-0 in the opener after pushing across two runs in its second at-bat. Suriel started the cycle with a two run triple to right center in the second to drive home Mike Pope (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Mark Sargente (Commack, N.Y.).
In a sign to things to come Purchase responded with three in the top of the third and started the back and forth between the two teams over the rest of the contest. Mount Saint Vincent would pull in front 4-3 in the fifth with a pair of runs, before the two teams traded tallies in the sixth.
Purchase looked the break the game open in the seventh when it pushed across six runs to pull in front 10-5. The Panthers' rally started with two outs and no one on base, before the next seven batters reach safely. Sean LaFaye started the rally with a double with Frank Fiumara adding a two run single.
Trailing by five the Dolphins started their own rally with an out in the bottom of the inning and no one on. After John McManus (Queens, N.Y.) and Sargente were hit with pitches, Pope doubled them home and later scored when Suriel went deep to right center to bring the Mount to within 10-9 with two at-bats left.
The Dolphins tied the score in the eighth with an RBI single from Sargente, but the Panthers fought back to take an 11-10 lead in the ninth after a single to right from pinch hitter Leo Francisco.
Down by a run, Mount Saint Vincent got things started early in the ninth when Suriel completed the cycle with a lead-off single. The score was tied at 11-11 after Benjamin Toro, Jr. (Yonkers, N.Y.) chased home pinch runner T.J. Laible (Rockaway, N.Y.). After Toro stole second he was pushed home with the game winning run on a single through a draw in infield by Josh Sharpe (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.).
Six Mount Saint Vincent players had at least two hits in the game with Suriel going 4-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBI. He joined teammate Kevin Coogan (Bronx, N.Y.) who is the only other player with a cycle after he completed the feat last season against NYU-POLY.
Shapre, Vinny Todino (Eastchester, N.Y.), James Labartino (Holbrook, N.Y.), Sargente and Pope each had two hits, with Pope scoring twice and driving in two. He was one of four players to score twice for the Dolphins in the game.
Game two started in much the same fashion as the opener, with the Mount jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the third after Todino drove home the first run on a single to right field.
Purchase would go on to score the next three runs to jump in front 3-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth. The Dolphins again used a big inning, scoring six times on four hits and three Purchase errors. Tyler Pope (Massapequa, N.Y.) delivered a two run single to cap the rally and close out the scoring in the game.
Toro was the only Dolphin with more then one hit in game two, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Mike Pope delivered another double in the game two win, with the Pope brothers driving in four of the seven runs.
Mike McManus (Queens, N.Y.) continued his dominate sophomore season with a complete game victory. He worked 7.0 innings and did not allow an earned run on eight hits. He fanned five and walked just two. He now stands at 3-1 on the season and lowered his team leading earned run average to 1.51.
The sweep on Sunday pushes Mount Saint Vincent to 10-13 overall on the season and to 6-4 in league play. The Dolphins will look to stay hot on Thursday when they travel to non-conference foe St. Joseph's-Brooklyn. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
