BOX SCORE Staten Island 2, Baruch 1 (10 innings)

BOX SCORE Baruch 4, Staten Island 1

The baseball team split a CUNYAC doubleheader on Saturday afternoon against the College of Staten Island Dolphins in Staten Island, New York.

The Bearcats lost the first game in an extra inning thriller of 2-1 in 10, but bounced back in the second game with a 4-1 victory to win the CUNYAC Regular Season Championship in first place.

As a result, the top-seeded Bearcats (18-16, 9-1 CUNYAC) will play #4 seeded Lehman College on Thursday, April 26, at 1:00 pm, at MCU Park in Brooklyn, New York. The CUNYAC will announce the entire championship tournament seeding, schedule and ticketing information on Monday afternoon, April 23.

The well-pitched first game was scoreless until Staten Island (18-15, 8-2 CUNYAC) scored in the sixth inning. Despite a no-hitter at that time by Paul Perez, Staten Island still managed to score a run via a pair of Baruch fielding errors to lead, 1-0.

The visiting Bearcats tied the game in the seventh inning, which also kept the no-hitter alive by Perez. Pinch runner Eric Peralta scored on a fielding error to keep the game going into the bottom of the seventh inning.

Paul Perez, the CUNYAC Rookie of the Week, lost his no-hitter on a two-out single by the designated hitter Frank Smith. However, Perez never lost his composure and continued to pitch into the 10th inning until Staten Island scored the winning run for the tough walk-off victory.

In the second game, the Bearcats posted a 4-1 victory as Jesus Izarra pitched a complete game with five strikeouts. The Bearcats were trailing 1-0, but scored three runs in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Thomas Daly and a two RBI single by John Yuksekol.

They added an insurance run for a 4-1 lead in the seventh inning as a fielding error enabled Alvin Mata to score, which was enough for the team’s 18th victory of the regular season. Thomas Daly finished batting 3-for-3, with a stolen base.

The Bearcats and Staten Island were scheduled to play again on Sunday, April 22, on Senior Day at MCU Park, but due to expected heavy rain, the game was postponed.

The Bearcats will next return to action on Tuesday, April 24, with a 4:00 pm non-conference contest at NCAA Div. III power Farmingdale State.