Baseball Drops 7-5 Extra-Inning Thriller to Bridgeport
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Apr. 19, 2017) - On Wednesday, the LIU Post baseball team dropped a hard-fought 7-5 extra-inning decision to University of Bridgeport in an East Coast Conference showdown at the LIU Post Baseball Field.
Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, the Pioneers (17-15, 9-6 ECC) engineered a two-out rally to claim a 3-2 advantage.
Following back-to-back hit batsmen and a subsequent balk, sophomore second baseman
Sal Geraci (Bayport, N.Y.) produced an RBI groundout to put the hosts in front.
The Purple Knights (15-16, 9-5 ECC) answered though in the eighth, when Dave Egeland (Toms River, N.J.) lined a go-ahead three-run homer off the left-field foul pole to make it a 5-3 game.
However, LIU Post fought back in the ninth, tallying a pair of runs to force extra innings.
With the tying runs in scoring position and two away, junior outfielder
Rob Andreoli (North Wantagh, N.Y.) hit an opposite-field two-RBI double to left to level the score at 5-all.
The visitors ultimately prevailed in the 11th, as senior shortstop Dylan Steigerwald (Holbrook, N.Y.) laced a two-RBI single through the left side to give Bridgeport the lead for good.
Sophomore pitcher
James Varela (Levittown, N.Y.) made the start for the Pioneers, tossing 7.1 innings of seven-hit, four-run, three-walk, three-strikeout ball in the no-decision.
Andreoli went 4-for-6 on the day and boasts an .818 average (9-for-11) in his last two games. Sophomore outfielder
Dave Brehm (Bohemia, N.Y.) added a pair of hits.
Head Coach
Mike Gaffney and his LIU Post squad return to action Friday (Apr. 21), when they battle non-conference foe Southern Connecticut State University at 3 p.m. at the LIU Post Baseball Field in Brookville.