Posted: Mar 08, 2025
Spartans’ Lineup Explodes for Game 2 Win
Game 2
Game 2
Cayuga Community College
(1-2, 1-1)
10
CCBC Essex
(7-4, 2-2)
6
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cayuga Community College | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 3 |
|
CCBC Essex | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
Trailing late by three, Cayuga Community College Baseball struck for seven runs in the final two innings to earn a split against CCBC-Essex on Saturday.
After losing 6-5 in walk-off fashion in the first game against the Knights, the Spartans rallied for a 10-6 win in the second contest, highlighted by Alejandro Diaz's three-run homer in the final inning. Cayuga improves to 2-2 on the season with the split.
Cayuga Coach John Rizzo said the two playoff-like games this early in the season should payoff for the Spartans later in the spring as they approach the postseason.
"We had a tough loss in game one. I felt like we were in position to win but made some costly mistakes," he said. "We had an early deficit in the second game and chipped away to give ourselves a chance at the end. This program's identity has been grit and toughness for a long time, and this team is already showing they have that same approach."
The Spartans trailed 4-1 in the opener when they scored four runs in the fifth to take the lead. After Mike DeRosa scored on a Knights' error, Luca D'Emilio doubled home Jacob Laird and Kevin Dolan to tie the game. D'Emilio later scored in the same inning on Isaac Allison's single to give Cayuga a 5-4 lead.
Neither team scored again until the final inning, when Cayuga loaded the bases with no outs but failed to push a run across. The Knights, though, scored twice in the bottom half of the seventh for the walk-off win.
Laird scored twice for the Spartans, DeRosa and Jeremy Recio had doubles, with Recio also driving in one run. James MacLean threw two innings of scoreless relief.
In the second game, the Knights capitalized on two Spartans' errors to take a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Cayuga responded with two in the second, with Owen Browne's triple scoring Allison before DeRosa drove-in Browne with a double.
Cayuga trailed 6-3 in the sixth when they scored three to tie the game. Allison scored on a double steal, then Laird doubled-in DeRosa and Diaz to even the score. The Spartans struck again for four in the seventh to take their first lead of the game. Browne's double scored pinch-runner Michael Blowers, then Diaz launched a drive to left, scoring Browne and Allison.
Diaz finished the game with four RBI and two runs. Browne had three hits, two RBI and two runs, and Laird had two hits and two RBI. Allison scored four runs on two hits. Kyle Peryer allowed one earned run in four innings in his first collegiate start.
Cayuga will remain in Maryland for another doubleheader on Sunday, March 9, this time at CCBC-Catonsville. First pitch is scheduled for noon.