NYACK, N.Y. - The Caldwell College baseball team defeated Nyack College twice, 5-3 and 1-0 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader Tuesday evening at Nyack Stadium. Junior pitcher Stephen Pfeil (Hampstead, NH/Pinherton Acad.) tossed a one-hit shutout in the second game, while sophomores Ray Keelan (Barnegat, NJ/Southern Regional) and Adric Saxon (Coral Springs, FL/Broward CC) each homered to give the Cougars the sweep. Caldwell is now 10-9 overall and 4-2 in the conference, while the Warriors fall to 5-11, 3-2 CACC.
The first game saw the Cougars take a 4-0 lead after the top of the first inning. Saxon, right, drove in senior Tommy Murphy (Monroe, NY/Washingtonville) with a double, then later scored on an error for a 2-0 lead. After sophomore Omar Velazquez (Astoria, NY/Long Island City) walked with two out, Keelan followed with his second home run of the season to put Caldwell on top 4-0. Nyack scored a run on a double by Cody Levins in the bottom of the first, but the Cougars restored their four-run lead with an unearned run in the top of the second. A two-run double by John Raebig in the bottom of the fourth cut Caldwell's lead to 5-3. Then in the fifth, the Warriors loaded the bases with no one out. Sophomore Buddy Riggs (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) came on in relief of starter Robert Casal (Howard Beach, NY/St. Francis Prep) and promptly struck out the side, ending the threat and preserving the lead.
Riggs retired nine of the 10 batters he faced, walking one in three hitless innings of relief to earn his second save of the season. Casal worked four innings, allowing nine hits and three runs while fanning nine. Derrick Gamble went the distance for Nyack and took the loss.
Game 2 was a pitcher's dual between Pfeil and the Warriors' Taylor Getzke. The game's only run came in the top of the fifth, when Saxon belted his second home run of the season to put Caldwell ahead 1-0. Saxon, who also hit a double in the seventh inning, hadn't hit a homer since the third game of the season back on Feb. 23. Pfeil dominated the Nyack lineup, surrendering just one hit, a double by Roy Diliberto to lead off the sixth inning. He also walked four while striking out 11 batters for the second game in a row. Pfeil, who improved to 2-2, fanned a career-high 11 in a 7-1 victory over Felician College in his last start on Mar. 27. Getzke gave up seven hits and walked four while recording 10 strikeouts in the loss.
