New York - The University of Mount Saint Vincent's baseball team continued their surge towards the Skyline Conference postseason over the course of the weekend. They hosted St. Joseph's University Brooklyn on Saturday before heading to Purchase to take on Purchase College just 24 hours later. The Dolphins swept the Bears in an afternoon double header where they honored their senior class by the scores of 9-1 and 23-3. UMSV would unfortunately drop two close ones to the Panthers, with the first coming in walk-off fashion. 

It was a display of dominance for the Dolphins offense across their first two games of the weekend. The Dolphins would put the game out of reach early and often, with five runs crossing the plate in the first five innings. Sophomore Drew Knight kicked things off in game one when he belted an opposite field home run for the first score of the day. The Dolphins would see a number of players succeed in the fifth, with Andrew Farina, Eric Zimmermann, Steven Marinez and Joshua McCormick each driving home runs, highlighted by doulbes from Zimmermann and McCormick. 

The 1-2 two punch atop UMSV's lineup in Dom Porto and Johnny Brucato would put the game out of reach for good with a pair of RBI in the bottom half of the sixth. 

Sophomore Will Granata hurled 5.1 innings of one-hit baseball while junior Aidan Cardenas pitched a perfect final 1.2 innings to finish the contest. 

The success would translate into the second half of the double hitter, as the Dolphins would record 23 runs on 22 hits. Zimmermann, McCormick and senior Joey DiNorcia each had three hits while Porto and Granata recorded two apiece. Knight would belt his second home run in as many games while Granata and McCormick would join the home run surge. McCormick would lead the way with a team-high four RBI. Freshman Shawn Ryan received the start and allowed just one run (unearned) in four innings while seniors Ivan Navarro and Gio Zuena impressed with a combined three strikeouts in relief. 

The Dolphins kept it close with the Panthers all afternoon long in game one on Sunday. 

Granata got things going in the top half of the first when he drove home Zimmermann to put the Dolphins up early. Purchase, however, would explode for five runs in the second inning, a lead they held for the majority of the contest. UMSV, however, would chip away at the deficit.

A Knight sacrifice fly made it a 5-2 ballgame before the Dolphins would have a breakout fifth inning. It was then when the Dolphins would tie things up with five runs of their own, highlighted by Zimmermann, Brucato and Jason Albert, all of whom combined for the scoring efforts. Purchase would walk off the Dolphins in the bottom half of the seventh. 

Graduate student Joe Decandia stood out for the Dolphins, as he struck out three in three innings of relief. 

The Dolphins would once again keep it close with the Panthers, as they would continuously even the score. A Brucato sacrifice bunt attempt would result in an error by the Panthers which would see Porto cross the plate in the first. Senior Peter Pannullo's RBI double in the second would extend the team's lead to two. 

Purchase would take a 4-2 lead by the end of the fourth, but UMSV would once again chip away as Granata recorded a sacrifice fly. The duo of Porto and Brucato would once again generate offense as they would tie the game in the sixth inning. Trailing by four heading into the seventh, the Dolphins would once again respond. Thanks to RBI triples from both Knight and senior JT Jimenez, the Dolphins would make it a 9-9 ballgame. The team would try to rally in the ninth, but it was too little, too late, as the Panthers would close it out.