NYACK, N.Y. - The Caldwell College baseball team picked up a pair of victories on Thursday with a sweep of a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader against Nyack College at Nyack High School. The Cougars won the first game 11-4 before taking the nightcap 3-2 to improve to 8-11 overall and 4-2 in league play. The Warriors fall to 2-17, 1-6 CACC.
Caldwell jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in Game 1 with three runs in the first inning and another in the second. Seniors Ray Keelan (Barnegat, NJ/Southern Regional) and Doug Hilgenberg (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) both drove in runs in the first inning. Nyack rallied with a run in the fourth, two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth to tie the game 4-4. TJ Briggs singled home the game-tying run in the sixth for Nyack. In the bottom of the sixth, the Cougars scored three times, all with two outs, to regain the lead 7-4. Senior Juan Pinero (Bronx, NY/Christopher Columbus) plated freshman Tom Todaro (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) from second base with a single, then Hilgenberg hit a two-run single with the bases loaded. In the eighth, Hilgenberg, senior Miguel Perdomo (Teaneck, NJ/Bergen Catholic) and sophomore Matt Cook (Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan) each delivered bases-loaded singles, and sophomore Jorge Ynoa (Bayside, NY/Bayside) hit a sacrifice fly for a four-run inning and an 11-4 lead.
Senior right-hander Robert Casal (Howard Beach, NY/St. Francis Prep) entered the game in the sixth and shut down the Warriors on two hits while striking out four and walking one in 3 2/3 innings. The performance out of the bullpen earned Casal (1-3) his 21st career victory, which ranks first in the 15-year history of the baseball program at Caldwell. Hilgenberg finished with four RBI, while senior Andrew Robertson (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) had three hits. Briggs and JD Calabrese had three hits apiece for Nyack.
In the second game, the Cougars pushed three runs across in the bottom of the third on RBI doubles by Hilgenberg, Ynoa and Cook for a 3-0 lead. Senior pitcher Buddy Riggs (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) stymied the Warriors' batters for seven innings, allowing four hits while striking out nine. Riggs was especially dominant in the seventh, fanning three straight batters on nine total pitches. Nyack made things interesting with an unearned run in the eighth and another run in the ninth on a single by Pedro Rodriguez to pull the Warriors to within one, 3-2. With the tying run on third base, Riggs induced a grounder to first to close out the win.
Keelan registered three hits in the second game and Ynoa had two hits as the Cougars pounded out 11 hits for the game and 27 on the day. Riggs went the distance to improve to 2-1 on the season. Caldwell was the home team in both games, as the doubleheader was originally scheduled to be played at Smith Field before being moved to Nyack High School due to poor field conditions.
Caldwell plays a non-conference game at Adelphi University on Monday, Apr. 5, beginning at 3:30 p.m. in Garden City, N.Y.
