BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Caldwell College baseball team played a non-conference doubleheader with Molloy College on Sunday, losing the first game 5-2 before taking the second game 6-1 at the Lynn University Baseball Field. The Cougars are now 3-5 overall and 2-2 on their Florida trip, while the Lions are 6-5.

In the first game, Molloy scored a pair of unearned runs in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Caldwell answered in the top of the second with five singles that resulted in one run on a hit by freshman Phil Ragusa (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph by the Sea) to make the score 2-1. Then in the fifth, junior Joe Doerrer (Middletown, NJ/Raritan) hit a sacrifice fly to plate freshman Stephen Dodd (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) to tie the game at 2-2. The Lions responded in the bottom of the fifth, when a single by Joseph Menendez brought home Carmine Pellechia to put the Lions ahead, 3-2. Molloy scored two more runs in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Freshman Dan Bartlett (Levittown, NY/Island Trees) pitched all six innings for Caldwell, allowing five runs, two earned, on eight hits while striking out four and walking one. Ragusa led the Cougar offense with a pair of hits. Matthew Metz earned the win for the Lions, giving up seven hits and two runs in six innings.

Molloy broke through first in the second game, scoring a run off a wild pitch in the top of the third to lead 1-0. In the bottom-half of the third, Caldwell exploded for six runs on four hits while batting around. Senior Juan Mejia (Ocean City, NJ/St. Augustine) hit a two-run double, and freshman Andrew Nunez (East Elmhurst, NY/Cardozo) laced a bases-loaded, three-run double to left in the inning. Sophomore Anthony Morena (Westbury, NY/Holy Cross), pictured, also had a sacrifice fly that scored freshman Steve Valenti (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian).

Freshman right-hander Robert Bennetti (Laurence Harbor, NJ/Old Bridge) earned his first collegiate victory, allowing an unearned run on four hits in six innings. Freshman lefty Al Etter (Millville, NJ/Sacred Heart) pitched a scoreless seventh inning in relief. Junior Jorge Ynoa (Bayside, NY/Bayside) had two hits in the win.

Caldwell continues play in Florida with a game against UMass-Lowell on Monday, Mar. 14. Game time is 3:00 p.m. at the Santaluces Sports Complex in Lantana, Fla.