Staten Island, NY | On an afternoon when the College of Staten Island would honor lone senior Salvatore Trancucci IV, the Dolphins were able to deliver in game two of a scheduled doubleheader against Queens Collge at the CSI Baseball Complex.  Queens won the opening game, one that counted towards the ECC standings, 7-5, while CSI was able to win the non-conference contest between the two sides in lopsided fashion, 17-5.  CSI is now 7-15 overall and 7-13 in the ECC, while Queens is now 12-11, 10-9, respectively.

GAME ONE
In the evenly-matched opener, both teams got solid starts from their starters on the hill, as CSI's Kevin Ryan started the game with four scoreless innings, while Dean Fazah countered for Queens.  After the Knights squandered a pair of base runners in their turn of the third, coming up empty, CSI countered with a heavy inning in the third, finally getting to Fazah.

Nick Cippoletti tripled to lead off the frame, and Thomas Marten, whose six-game hit streak was broken in this one, did chase him on a sac fly to make it 1-0.  After Shendi Ulaj walked and Peter Lombardo singled, Angel Santiago punched in Ulaj on a single of his own, and then Thomas Joyce followed with another RBI-single to bring in Lombardo to make it 3-0.  

Queens, however, finally got to CSI starter Ryan in the game's fifth inning.  With one runner on and two outs, the Knights made their move as Reed Hoskins was hit by a pitch putting runners on first and second.  Ryan then balked to advance the runners, and Brad Sakellarides stroked a two-RBI single that went under Ulaj's glove at second base, making it 3-2.  After Andrew Smith singled to put runners on first and second again, Jayson Rodopolous laced a two-RBI double down the left field line to give Queens the 4-3 advantage.  Ryan would hit the next batter and that was then end for him as Steven Collica came in to end the inning with CSI down, 4-3.

CSI stranded a runner in the fifth, and then Queens added some insurance in the sixth.  With two outs again and two on, Sakellarides singled home another run to make it 5-3, and then another run came in on a single coupled with an outfield error, giving Queens their biggest lead at 6-3.  After Fazah gave up a double in the sixth to Louie Mandile, he was lifted for Dylan Hughes, who thwarted the threat, but CSI made some noise against the reliever in the seventh.  Down three CSI got one-out back-to-back hits by Lombardo and Santiago, and Joyce was hit by a pitch to load the bags. Mandile then followed with a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-4, but following a mound visit, Hughes settled, striking out Noah Lunn and inducing a ground out to end the inning.  

Queens added an insurance marker in the ninth against reliever Michael Diforte, but CSI got one back unearned in the ninth before Hughes again settled down to strike out Giacchino Virone to end the game.  For Fazah in the win, he went 5.1 innings, yielding three runs on eight hits, fanning five, while Hughes got the 3.2 inning save.  Ryan took the loss, yielding four runs on six hits in 4.2 innings.  CSI did out-hit Queens, 12-11, led by both Lombardo and Santiago, who both went 4-5, with Lombardo adding two runs scored.  Corey Tingo went 3-4 for Queens, Sakellarides went 2-5 with three RBI and a run scored.

GAME TWO
Both teams utilized the non-conference end of the doubleheader to shuffle their lineups, and both teams put up some huge innings that ultimately resulted in a lopsided game in favor of the home Dolphins.  

CSI gave the ball to freshman Frank Gulko and he delivered a scoreless first inning and the CSI bats went right to work in their turn of the first against QC starter John Rodopolous.  Marten started it off with a lead off double, and after Lombardo walked, Santiago had the loudest hit of the day, a towering shot to left field that cleared the fence for a three-run homer, putting CSI on top.  After registering an out, Bryan Birkhead singled, and after another out, Nick Campisi walked.  Julian Iacono joined the party with an RBI base hit to make it 4-0.  Campisi followed by coming in on a passed ball, making it a 5-0 game.

CSI seemed in full control but it was not to last, as fueled by an error that extended the inning, Queens tied the score in the second.  Daniel Deutsch started with a one-out double, and he got to third on an infield error putting runners at the corners with one out.  Gulko would strike out the next batter but then ran into trouble.  After Mike Tagliarini walked, James Mahoney laced a two-RBI single up the middle to make it 5-2, and then Jordan Ramlogan plated another run on a base hit.  Jayson Rodopolous then tagged a two-RBI single to left center to tie the score before Gulko got Smith the strike out to end the frame, but the score was tied at 5-5.

Rather than crawl into a shell, CSI went right back on the offensive in the second.  Marten again led off, this time with a single and then Lombardo walked again.  Santiago flew out, but then Collica followed up with a hard-hit double to left field scoring Marten to re-give the Dolphins the lead, 6-5.  With Lombardo at third, Birkhead grounded out but was able to score him to make it 7-5 at the end of the second.

From there, both pitchers were terrific, with Gulko allowing just a single base-runner over the next three innings and Fazah recorded 11-straight put-outs of the Dolphins.  Still up 7-5 going into the sixth, Queens went to the bullpen for Dante Interlandi who had a world of trouble from the get-go, ultimately surrendering 10 runs on eight Dolphin hits, helped along by four walks in the inning as well.  Cippoletti highlighted the frame with a two run triple, with Collica adding another two RBI with a single.  Mandile joined the party with a two-RBI single, before Cippoletti added another RBI- single in the inning.  Pinch hitter Noah Lunn added an RBI base hit as well.  By the end of the onslaught, the Dolphins had a 17-5 advantage.

That was enough for a confident Gulko to close out the game for his first collegiate victory and first collegiate complete game.  His final line was seven innings, allowing five runs, but none earned, on six hits, walking two and fanning seven.  Rodopolous took the loss, going five frames, allowing seven runs (five earned) on six hits.

Again, CSI led the hit count, this time, 14-6.  Marten went 3-5 with and RBI and three runs scored, with Collica going 2-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.

CSI and Queens will meet again tomorrow afternoon for a doubleheader at 12 Noon.  Those two games will both count towards the ECC standings and they will mean a great deal for Queens.  The Knights control their own playoff destiny and two wins would advance them to the ECC Playoffs.  Should CSI win either of the games, Queens would need Lincoln University to beat the University of Bridgeport the same number of times in order to advance.

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