Box Score & Play by Play: Game 1...Game 2
The baseball team won one of two against Staten Island in a home conference doubleheader played on Saturday afternoon at the College of Staten Island baseball complex.
The Bearcats won the opener, 6-5, behind solid pitching and a game-ending defensive stop to clinch their first conference victory.
Baruch scored two in the first inning via RBI singles from junior Greg Polius (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Mary’s) and sophomore Joseph Valentin (Co-op City, N.Y./DeWitt Clinton).
They added two more in the third on an RBI double by junior Ramon Grullon (Brooklyn, N.Y./Murry Bergtraum) and a bases loaded walk by freshman David Chestnut (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth).
The lead reached 5-0 in the fourth, as Polius cleverly scored from third base, as Grullon stole second base on the same play.
Polius cruised into the fifth inning with a no-hitter, but C.S.I. would come back with three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to tie the game at 5-5.
The Bearcats took a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to a throwing error that scored Valentin from third base.
That set up an exciting seventh inning and C.S.I. took advantage of an error, walk, and two stolen bases to put runners on second and third with one out.
Polius responded by striking out the next batter for the second out.
Freshman Patrick Westrick (Staten Island, N.Y./McKie Voc) helped notch the third out by making diving stab to his left to capture a hard-hit ground ball. He quickly got up and fired a one-hopper that Valentin scooped up cleanly at first base for the third out to clinch the victory.
The victory by Baruch against Staten Island was only the second since 1978 in baseball games played at the College of Staten Island.
In the second game, the Baruch offense went quiet, as Eric Wilhelm pitched six innings, allowed only four hits and one earned run to win the nightcap.
C.S.I., which built a 3-0 lead in the first inning, blew open the game with six runs in the sixth to win, 12-1.
The lone Baruch run of the game was on an RBI single by Chestnut in the sixth inning to score Westrick.
