BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Caldwell University baseball team split a pair of games on Tuesday afternoon in Florida. The Cougars defeated Molloy College, 11-3 at the Lynn Baseball Field, then lost to the University of New Haven, 13-4 at the Santaluces Sports Complex. The results give the Cougars a 2-4 record on the season.
In the first game, Caldwell loaded the bases in the second inning and sophomore
Michael Bernstein (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) drew a walk for a 1-0 lead. After a strikeout, sophomore
Ryan Rivera (Saddle Brook, NJ/St. Joseph) blasted a grand slam home run over the right field fence for a 5-0 lead. It was Rivera's first homer as a Cougar. In the third, senior
Robert Humes (Berlin, NJ/Winslow Twp.) singled home freshman
William Levier (Monroe Twp., NJ/Monroe Twp.) to put Caldwell up 6-0.
Junior
Richard Evaniecki (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) brought home Bernstein with a single in the fifth. Then in the sixth, Caldwell score four times on two-run hits by freshman
Noah Clark (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) and Humes. Senior right-hander
Eric Bomenblit (Allenwood, NJ/Wall) did the rest, holding Molloy to three runs, one earned, on 10 hits in eight innings of work. JuniorÂ
Dominick Orlando (Manalapan, NJ/Holmdel) and Bernstein each had three hits for Caldwell.
Against New Haven, the Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a single by Clark that scored freshman
Paul Marinello (Freehold, NJ/Colts Neck). New Haven scored a run in the bottom of the first, then put four runs on the board in the bottom of the second for a 5-1 lead. In the top of the fourth, Orlando hit a two-run single and freshman
Kevin Goldman (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream Central) plated Marinello to make it a one-run game, 5-4. But the Chargers scored three times in the bottom of the fourth, once in the fifth and three more runs in the sixth for a commanding 12-4 advantage. Kyle Cullen's solo home run in the seventh made it 13-4 New Haven.
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Orlando and Clark each had three hits for the Cougars. Freshman pitcher
Joshua Caba (Belleville, NJ/Belleville) started on the mound and allowed three hits and eight unearned runs over four innings.
The Cougars play a doubleheader against St. Thomas University on Wednesday, Mar. 18, starting at 3:00 p.m. at the Santaluces Sports Complex.
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