ORANGEBURG, N.Y. - A five-run fifth inning helped the Caldwell College baseball team pick up an important Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory over Dominican College by the score of 10-5 Thursday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Field. Freshman Gabriel Molina (Bronx, NY/Monroe) hit a bases-loaded, three-run double in the fifth for the Cougars, who are now 11-9 overall and 5-2 in league play. The Chargers fall to 9-15 overall, 1-3 CACC.
Molina, pictured, put Caldwell on the board in the top of the second with a single that scored sophomore Omar Velazquez (Astoria, NY/Long Island City). Later in the inning, a sacrifice fly by sophomore Jon Irwin (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) brought home senior Chris Chiarappa (Elmont, NY/Holy Trinity) from third for a 2-0 lead. Caldwell broke open the game in the fifth. With one out, junior Jorge Torres (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) and sophomore Adric Saxon (Coral Springs, FL/Broward CC) walked, then Torres scored on an error on a grounder by sophomore Ray Keelan (Barnegat, NJ/Southern Regional). After Velazquez walked to load the bases, Molina doubled to right field, scoring all three runners for a 6-0 advantage. Freshman Edgar Santos (Woodside, NY/Bryant) followed with a single that plated Molina to put Caldwell up 7-0.
Dominican scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth, then put two more on the board in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 7-3. Caldwell restored its seven-run lead with three in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Saxon and a two-run double from Chiarappa. Dan Robinson's two-run double in the bottom of the eighth brought Dominican to within 10-5, but sophomore Buddy Riggs (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) pitched a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts to close out the win.
Junior Eric Hines (Milltown, NJ/Spotswood) pitched five innings and allowed six hits and one run to improve to 3-0 on the season. Brian Craig (0-2) took the loss for the Chargers after giving up seven runs, all unearned, on four hits and five walks while striking out seven. Dominican committed four errors in the game, while Caldwell had three miscues.
The Cougars are scheduled to host Chestnut Hill College on Friday, Apr. 4 in a CACC game. The first pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. at Smith Field in Parsippany, N.J.
