By: Michael L. Damon
mdamon@jjay.cuny.edu
(212) 237-8322
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Brooklyn, N.Y.— The John Jay baseball team solidified third place in the 2012 conference standings as the Bloodhounds went 1-1 on Saturday afternoon, splitting a doubleheader against the City College of New York (CCNY). John Jay won the first game 5-4 in eight innings, before losing 4-1 in the second game.
With the split, the Bloodhounds end the 2012 City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) season 5-5, while CCNY finishes 4-6 in conference play and tied for fourth with Lehman. However, Lehman holds the tiebreaker for the fourth place to earn the final spot in next week's CUNYAC / MCU baseball championship at MCU Park on April, 26, 27 and 28.
Baruch owns the top spot for the tournament, while the College of Staten Island is the second seed.
It is the eleventh season in a row the Bloodhounds have qualified for the conference postseason tournament.
On Saturday, the Bloodhounds assured themselves a third place finish after picking up the dramatic game one extra inning win. Early in the game, the Bloodhounds led 2-0 with a run in the bottom of the first and another in the third. In the first inning,
Yahnny Arias (3-for-4 with two runs) led off the bottom of the first with a double to left field. Then after
Owen Kimmel bunted him over to third base, he scored on an RBI groundout by
Corry Harper for the first run of the game.
John Jay struck again in the third, and it was once again Arias scoring the run. He hit a one out single, then advanced two bases on a wild pitch, before Kimmel groundout to score him from third.
But John Jay found trouble in the fourth, and the visiting Beavers scored three in the top of the fourth to take the lead. Three of the five batters starting pitcher
Braylin Perez walked came in the troubled fourth inning. He walked the first two batters of the inning, then allowed a single and a double consecutively which awoken the Beavers. The third run of the inning, which gave CCNY the lead, was a steal of home by Mike Smith on a delayed steal. Smith was the big hitter for CCNY in the first game, going 3-for-4 with a double, a run and two runs batted in.
CCNY took the lead into the seventh inning. From the time the Beavers took the lead, CCNY starting pitcher, Andrew Mulvey coasted through the middle innings; he retired nine straight batters through the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. But in the seventh, the Bloodhounds got around just in time.
Billy Moran led off the inning with a single. Then a sacrifice bunt by
Brian McKenna moved him into scoring position. The next batter,
Nestor Amarante, ripped a single back to the pitcher to get runners on the corners. Then
Erik Pratz hit a groundball to second, that may have been a game ending double-play, but the CCNY infielder could not come up with the ball as all runners were safe and Moran scored to tie the game.
But John Jay could not cash in a game winner as the last two batters struck out to force extra innings.
In the extra frame, the Beavers picked up another run to retake the lead. An RBI single by Smith scored Darius Tavarez who had led off with a single. But CCNY failed to increase the lead as the Beavers left the bases loaded and scored just the one run.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Bloodhounds plated two runs to win in walk off fashion. The Bloodhounds loaded the bases to start the inning. Then with the infield playing in, Moran hit a groundball to second to force Arias out at the plate.
Then McKenna tied the score with a sacrifice fly to leftfield. But an error on the popup kept the bases loaded. Then Amarante scorched a single up the middle to drive home the winning run.
In the second game, John Jay's lone run came in the second inning as Moran scored on a wild pitch that gave John Jay a 1-0 lead.
The Bloodhounds led all the way into the sixth when trouble brewed. Starting pitcher
Mark Marte held CCNY without a hit for the first five innings. But the Beavers came around in the sixth and registered two hits and a walk before Marte's day was finished. Harper faced the next four batters of the inning. And when the frame was over, CCNY had scored four runs on four hits (the only inning CCNY had runs and hits).
