Baseball Knocked Out of NCAA Regional with 5-4 Loss to Eastern Connecticut St.

When and Where:

May 20, 2023 - Cortland, NY

Records:

St. Joseph's (L.I.), 30-11; Eastern Connecticut St. 35-11

Results:

The fourth-seeded St. Joseph's University (L.I.) baseball team was eliminated from the  NCAA Div. III New York State Regional to third-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University 5-4 on Saturday morning at Wallace Field.

Key Players:

• Senior Ryan Decoursey was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored

• Senior John Lynch finished 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs 

• Senior Phil Krpata recorded an RBI and a run scored

How it happened:

• St. Joseph's scored early with a pair of runs in the top of the first. Krpata drew a walk to start the game and after a passed ball, the left fielder swiped third and came into score on a sac fly by Jake Giannico. Decoursey followed with a base hit to center and was sent home on a double in the left-center gap by John Lynch

• Eastern Connecticut got on the board with a run in the bottom of the second when Josh Confrancesco singled to the left side and pushed across on a double down the left field line by Brent Cosculluela

• The Warriors evened the score with a solo home run to right by Jason Claiborn in the bottom of the third

• St. Joseph's went back on top when James Maggio was hit by a pitch to start the top of the fourth and came around to score on a sac fly to right by Krpata

• The Golden Eagles added another run in the fifth when Decoursey drilled a double down the left field line and was followed up by an RBI single to right by Lynch for a 4-2 lead

• ECSU's Claiborn struck again in the bottom of the seventh with his second home run of the day this time a two-run blast knotting the score at four runs apiece

• After the Golden Eagles stranded a one-out double in the ninth, a St. Joseph's error put a runner on second with one out. Claiborn was intentionally walked but was quickly erased by a fielder's choice. With runners on the corners with two outs, ECSU's Matt Malcom legged out an infield hit narrowly beating Decoursey's throw to first allowing Noah Plantamuro to score the game-winning run

Notes:

• ECSU's Nathan Furino picked up the win allowing just one hit in three innings of relief. Starter Matthew Wootton surrendered four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts

• SJLI's Michael Manzolillo suffered the loss allowing just one run on one hit in 1.1 innings of relief. Starter Peter Manger went 6.1 innings allowing four runs on 11 hits