PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Four home runs by four different players allowed the Caldwell College baseball team to erase an early three-run deficit and defeat Dominican College, 11-4 in a non-conference game Sunday afternoon at Smith Field. A three-run blast by freshman Raymond Keelan (Barnegat, NJ/Southern Regional) in the bottom of the sixth put the game out of reach as the Cougars improved to 21-10 on the season. The Chargers drop to 15-15.
Dominican took the lead with three runs in the top of the fourth, sparked by Willie Mann's two-run double that put the Chargers ahead 3-0. In the bottom of the fourth, freshman Adric Saxon (Coral Springs, FL/Broward CC) and senior Billy Ryan (Toms River, NJ/Manchester) hit back-to-back home runs to cut the Chargers' lead to 3-2. It was Saxon's team-leading 13th homer of the season. The Cougars tied the game at 3-3 when junior Chris Chiarappa (Elmont, NY/Holy Trinity) drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the fifth. In the sixth, after sophomore Jorge Torres (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) doubled home freshman Andrew Robertson (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) for a 4-3 lead, Keelan hit his seventh homer of the year to bring home Torres and freshman Omar Velazquez (Astoria, NY/Long Island City) to put Caldwell ahead 7-3. Torres became the fourth Cougar to leave the park with a three-run shot in the seventh.
Velazquez, starting his second career game on the mound, went seven innings and gave up seven hits and three runs while fanning eight to improve to 2-0. He also went 2 for 5 at the plate with two runs. Torres, Ryan and junior Tommy Murphy (Monroe, NY/Washingtonville) also had two hits each on the day. Reliever Clinton Boettcher (0-1) absorbed the loss for the Chargers.
The Cougars and Chargers meet again on Tuesday, May 1 in a game that will count in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference standings. The game is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. at Smith Field.