The Mercy University Men’s Baseball squad defeated Dominican University in a 16-3 landslide on March 19 at Mercy University. Eight Mercy players were able to record an RBI in an easy victory on this windy afternoon in front of 75 attendees.
Dominican jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage scoring two runs in the top of the second. The visitors tacked on another run in the sixth inning to take a 3-0 advantage. Coming into this matchup Mercy had lost eight of 11 to Dominican. Through six innings this one appeared to be headed in the same direction.
Mercy’s offense came out roaring in the bottom half of the seventh inning. Graduate student Brandon Nolasco started the bleeding with a single to center field. Sloppy play by Dominican’s infield allowed Nolasco to score the first run for Mercy. Graduate student Nolan Giblin knotted the score at 3-3 with two-run single down the left side. Freshman Kyle Engmann and graduate student Janiel Ramirez scored on the play. Giblin would eventually score giving Mercy a 5-3 advantage off of a single to center field from junior Jaden Caballero.
The offense wouldn’t stop as Mercy scored 12 of its 16 runs in the seventh which began with them trailing 3-0. The 16 runs knotted is Mercy’s second highest scoring output of the season thus far.
The eighth inning wouldn’t prove to be any better for Dominican. Giblin connected on a RBI single this time through the right-side scoring Junior Alfred Hoti giving Mercy a commanding 13-3 lead. Sophomore Liam Padden added insult to injury with a three-run double to center field that all but finished Dominican. Sophomore Zach Ashline and Junior Joe Gonzalez scored on the play. Mercy scored all 16 of its runs in the seventh and eigth innings.
Giblin stole the show with three hits, the rbi’s, three runs and tacked on a walk. Junior Gabe Sanders collected two hits, two RBIs, walked once and also scored a run. Mercy was not shy in the manner in which they served up Dominican. In total nine different Mavericks recorded a hit in the rout. Patience at the plate was key. Seven Mercy hitters combined for a total of eight walks to put men on base. This compared to only seven strikeouts.
The win improves Mercy’s overall record to 9-11 while Dominican drops to 5-15. Mercy has won their last two outings by a combined score of 26-8. The team is currently playing their best baseball of the season having won four of their last five outings.
Mercy is 4-2 at home this year and 3-3 in true road matchups. Neutral sites are where the team has fallen short. The Mavericks have recorded losses in six of their eight attempts on neutral sites.
This marks only the fourth victory in twelve attempts all-time against Dominican. The 16 runs are the most Mercy has ever scored against Dominican and the 13-run drubbing is the most lopsided victory for Mercy in the history of these schools competing. Since beginning the season with a record or 2-7, Mercy has found their comfort zone as they sit at a respectable 9-11. The team has accumulated seven wins in their last 11 contest. What started off as a tough year has developed into some pretty exciting baseball for the university. Mercy is now 4-8 against Dominican since their first ever matchup on April 18, 2006 which resulted in a 1-5 loss. Over the years Mercy has turned the tide winning four of the last seven meetings between the two schools.
The Mercy bats have shown pop all season. Win or lose Mercy has been adept at the plate. Including this performance the Mavericks have scored at least 10 runs on three occasions this season. In 20 outings this season Mercy has scored less than three runs on only three occurrences. The team has scored at least seven runs eight times this season. If nothing else Mercy can most certainly put bat to ball.
Mercy begins a four-game set with East Coast Conference rival College of Staten Island Friday March 22. This is a crucial series as the Mavericks begin ECC play. The series features a set of double headers, two games in Staten Island and two at Mercy field in Dobbs Ferry. Winning this series bodes well for Mercy going forward.
