Patchogue, NY - A day after going toe-to-toe and splitting a double header with second ranked USMMA, the Dolphins returned to the diamond to take on St. Joseph's College-Long Island, who entered Sunday with a Skyline-best 13-3 record. CMSV impressed over the two games as they went on to sweep the Golden Eagles by the scores of 6-5 and 14-5.
The Dolphins are now 9-7 within the conference and currently hold a playoff spot.
In a similar fashion to yesterday's contests, the Dolphins jumped out to an early lead to put the momentum in their favor. After senior
Jake Blinstrub singled up the middle, classmate
Eric Zimmermann continued his strong campaign when he doubled down the left field line for his 29th RBI of the 2022 season. Both teams would trade runs over the next two innings, with senior
Matt DiNorcia doubling home
Joey DiNorcia and
Dom Porto, making it a 3-1 game early on.
The Golden Eagles continued to battle back, and eventually took a two run lead of their own going into the fifth inning. But DiNorcia once again came through for the Dolphins, as he drove in three more runners in the top of the sixth to bring his total to five RBI in the game, good enough for the win. Sophomore
Sean Kennedy furthered his impressive second season in Riverdale, as he allowed just four earned runs while striking out 10 in a complete game victory.
The offense continued to roll into game two. The Dolphins plated four first inning runs, with Zimmermann, Isidoros Bartiokas and
Tyler Paulino all driving home runs. CMSV's lead extended to 8-1 after the top half of the second when Zimmermann recorded a sacrifice fly while Blinstrub, Bartziokas and
Michael Grisanti recorded RBI singles. DiNorcia, Paulino, Blinstrub and
Matt Albert would add to the lead before it was all said and done. Six Dolphins had two or more hits, including Blinstrub, Grisanti, Paulino, DiNorcia, Porto and
Joey DiNorcia, with Blinstrub and Paulino pacing the team with three RBI apiece.
The veteran tandem of
Peter Sanderson and
Aidan Rice combined to shut down the Golden Eagles' offense. Sanderson got the start and went four innings, allowing four runs on seven hits in the process. Rice entered for the final five innings and struck out nine batters on one run and five hits.
3-1 against the top two teams in the conference this week, the Dolphins will look to finish their season strong. They'll close the week taking on Vassar, Manhattanville and St. Joe's Brooklyn to wrap up the regular season.