Box Score POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Winchester, VA| The St. Joseph's University (L.I.) baseball team held off elimination with a 2-0 win over Steven Institute of Technology on day two of the NCAA Regional Tournament.
The Golden Eagles improve to 24-14 overall as the Ducks wrap up their season at 29-16.
Just as in game one, the Golden Eagles were first to strike with a run in the bottom of the first. A defensive miscue by the Stevens third baseman to start the inning allowed Phil Krpata (BB, R) to reach. A wild pitch moved him to second before a groundout advanced him to third. Brian Forbes sent a ball to right deep enough for Krpata to score.
Both sides went scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when the Golden Eagles plated a run without recording a hit. The Golden Eagles worked back-to-back walks with one out before Paul Gugliuzzo (1-for-3) was hit by a pitch to load the bases setting up for a wild pitch to score John Thatcher (2 BB, R) and doubling the lead, 2-0.
The Ducks would go on to threaten in the top of the seventh when a single up the middle and a walk put two runners on with just one out, but SJLI freshman starter Charlie Aurandt got Ryan Finegan to fly out to center before ending the threat with a strikeout of Christian Kreiser.
After a quiet eighth, Stevens' Ryan Wall worked a leadoff walk to start the ninth prompting Head Coach Rick Garrett to go to his bullpen for Dante Morabito. The freshman reliever got Hunter Silvernail to ground into a fielder's choice and retired the next two Ducks via the fly-out to secure the win and record his second save of the season.
SJLI's Nick Vicino led at the plate going 2-for-3 with a walk.
Aurandt (W, 6-0) finished his day with three strikeouts in eight innings of scoreless work.
Stevens' Ryan Shea took the loss allowing both runs on two hits with a pair of strikeouts in 4.1 innings
The Golden Eagles advance and will play the loser of Shenandoah University and Catholic University on Saturday, May 21 at 6:00 PM.
