BOX SCORE

The baseball team continued their strong start by recording an exciting come-from-behind 6-4 victory against the State University of New York at Maritime Privateers on Tuesday night in the Bronx.

With the result, the Bearcats are now 2-0 on the young regular season schedule, while the Privateers lose their season opener to fall to 0-1.

Last year, the Bearcats scored four runs with two outs in the ninth inning to stun the Privateers, 9-6 (STORY). This year, the visiting Bearcats scored three runs in the ninth inning to record another dramatic victory against their opponent from the Skyline Conference.

Anthony Melendez smacked two home runs, including the tying homer in the top of the ninth inning, to tie the game at 4-all.

The Bearcats continued to threaten in the ninth and had runners on second (Thomas Daly) and third base (Alvin Mata) with one out. Jonathan Ovalles hit an infield grounder (fielder’s choice), but the second baseman quickly threw the ball to home plate and was unsuccessful at throwing out Mata, who scored the fifth and what would become eventual winning run.

John Yuksekol came in to pinch hit and smacked a sacrifice fly RBI to score Daly for the 6-4 score.

Jesus Izzara, who notched a save in the season opener against Yeshiva, pitched three inning (3IP, 1ER, 1H, 3K, 2BB) and struck out two batters in the ninth inning to earn the relief victory this evening.

Melendez finished his first game in a Baruch uniform with two home runs for a thrilling debut. He hit a two run homer during the fifth inning to help Baruch go ahead 2-1 early in the non-conference contest.

Alvin Mata had another strong game by batting 4-for-5, with two doubles and one run scored.

The baseball team will now travel to warmer Fort Myers, Florida to play eight games against regional and national competition.

The Bearcats on Thursday, March 10, will play St. Joseph’s College of Long Island at 10:00 am, followed by Defiance College of Ohio at 1:00 pm.