Davenport, FL - The John Jay baseball team commenced the 2023 season in Davenport, FL on Saturday morning, falling to Calvin University, 13-6.
Michael Mauro led the way for the Bloodhounds with two hits and two runs scored while
Michael Manzoeillo drove in three of the six runs on the afternoon for John Jay.
Marc Weeks earned the Opening Day starting nod, allowing four runs (two earned) over 3.2 innings in suffering the loss.
Gabe Bonemer, Matt Raymond, Will Mueller and Carson Warners each had two hits for the Knights with Raymond driving in four RBIs in the win for Calvin.
Ian Doyle earned the win after tossing seven innings of four-hit baseball.
The Knights struck first for the first run of the contest as Raymond sent a sacrifice fly to deep center field as Bonemer tagged from third and crossed the plate, giving Calvin a 1-0 lead.
The score remained that way untikl the top of the fourth, where the Bloodhounds got on the board.
David Michalski reached on a throwing error by the Knight's third baseman before moving into scoring position on a single by Mauro.
With two runners on, Manzoeillo connected on his first home run of the campaign, a towering shot that cleared the left field way, as John Jay went ahead 3-1.
The Knights wasted little in responding, scoring three times in the bottom half of the frame to take a 4-3 lead as Warners came around to score on a throwing error by the shortstop.
Calvin tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the sixth in building a 7-3 lead as Raymond capped the scoring with a RBI single to third.
John Jay got a run back in the top half of the seventh, as
Thomas Salerno lofted a fly ball to right field, bringing in
Anthony Agosta, who led off the stanza with a walk, as the Bloodhounds cut the deficit to three, 7-4.
The Knights ignited a four-run bottom half of the inning to take an 11-4 advantage as Raymond was once again the catalyst, sending ground-rule double to left center, plating home two runners.
The visitors inched closer in the top of the eighth as
Ryan Kilcarr singled to left center, scoring Mauro as Calvin went to the bullpen.
Thomas DeStefano drew a bases loaded walked, which plated home Manzoeillo as the Bloodhounds trailed by five but Bandstra was able to record the final two outs to escape further trouble.
The Knights plated across two more runs in the bottom of the eighth as Mueller scored on a wild pitch after Williams walked and Bonemer singled home an RBI base knock to center as Calvin went up by seven.
The Bloodhounds had a chance in the ninth as Mauro collected another hit before being lifted for a pinch-runner in
Javier Simpson, who promptly stole second.
John Jay's comeback chances was halted as Banstra struck out the final two batters to preserve the win for the Knights.
John Jay remains in Florida at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational when they take on Moravian on Sunday morning with first-pitch set for 9:00 AM.
