Day 1 Recap of 2024 CACC Baseball Championship
Day 1 Recap of 2024 CACC Baseball Championship
WATERBURY, Conn. (May 9, 2024) -- Both Post University and Felician University were victorious on Thursday to advance to the winner's bracket, while Thomas Jefferson University staved off elimination with a thrilling win in the night cap over Goldey-Beacom College to highlight Day 1 of the 2024 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Baseball Championship Double-Elimination Tournament at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury, Conn.
North #2 seed Felician got the day started with a 10-4 win over the South #1 Rams, while North #1 Post rallied in the bottom of the ninth for a 9-8 walk-off win over the South #2 Lightning. Jefferson and GBC turned right around for an elimination game at 6 p.m., with the Rams gutting out a 12-8 victory to advance to another elimination game on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m., versus the loser of Friday's morning's contest between Post and Felician.
GAME #1: N#2 FELICIAN 10, S#1 JEFFERSON 4 | Boxscore
Ricky Voss was 3-for-4 with two runs driven in and three more scored and reached base overall four times to spark Felician's lineup in its opening win over the Rams. Overall, Felician pounded out 14 hits and four Golden Falcons each logged a pair of RBI. Jose David Medrano pounded out three hits and scored twice. Mike Caldon yielded just four runs (3 earned) on nine hits over six innings to earn the win, while Rafael Solano pitched the final three innings to earn the save, striking out three and yielding just one hit.
Joshua Lopez was 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Justin Egner and Matt Vita each stroked a pair of hits. Samuel Bass started and went 5.1 innings but suffered the loss as he gave up seven runs on eight hits.
GAME #2: N#1 POST 9, S#2 GOLDEY-BEACOM 8 | Boxscore
Danny Gill delivered a walk-off RBI single to left-center field which capped Post's come-from-behind win over the Lightning. The Eagles trailed 8-6 heading into the bottom of the seventh, but each of the final three innings Post found a way to scratch out a run. Sixteen of the game's 17 runs came with two outs with the exception being Gill's RBI knock to walk it off. Jaylen Kelley went 4-for-4 and reached base five times, as he homered twice, including a three-run shot to help Post get back into the contest after falling behind, 4-0, early. Gill, Hunter Keller, Michael Pavelchak and Evan Cornwell each had a pair of hits. Brennan Holligan pitched five innings in relief and earned the win.
Kyle Walker went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and Dante DiSabatino drove in a pair for the Lightning.
GAME #3: S#1 JEFFERSON 12, S#2 GOLDEY-BEACOM 8 | Boxscore
Josh Lopez, Marquise Wood and Chris McLean each homered, and Anthony Pillari came out of the pen to pitch 4.2 innings of outstanding ball to spark the Rams to its tournament-saving win over the Lightning. Pillari earned the win in relief by scattering three hits and giving up just one unearned run while also making an outstanding sliding grab in foul territory to keep at GBC rally at bay late in the contest. He also struck out five and walked just one batter.
Justin Egner was 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Darin Miller was 3-for-5 with a pair of runs driven in for the Lightning who saw their tournament come to an end and will now await word on a potential at-large bid to next weekend's NCAA Division II East Region Tournament.
ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 12 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, University of Bridgeport, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Dominican (N.Y.) University, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Post University, Thomas Jefferson University, and Wilmington University.