Madison, NJ - After 721 days, The City College of New York baseball program returned to the baseball diamond on Sunday, earning a split of their doubleheader against FDU-Florham. The Beavers opened the day, defeating the Devils, 6-2 before falling in game 2, 10-4.
Game One: CCNY 6, FDU-Florham 2
The Devils grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Matt Nodoro scored an unearned run on a groundout RBI by Vincent Ferrigno.
After two scoreless innings, the Beavers tied the game with a run in the top of the fourth. Freshman Xavier Grobbel led the frame off with a base hit and later scored on a single by freshman Michael Chasanov to even the contest.
The Beavers notched another run in the top of the fifth inning as Brandon Paider started the inning off with a double down the left-field line, moved to third on Alex Montanile's SAC bunt, and scored on Eric Romero's base hit.
The Beavers added two more in the sixth. After John Creegan reached on a single through the left side and Jonathan Rivera advanced on a hit by pitch, Chasanov scored both runners on a two-RBI single to put the Beavers ahead 4-1.
CCNY tallied two more insurance runs in the seventh inning. Romero singled and scored on a single by Grobbel, who later scored on Rivera's RBI single.
Freshman James Dean Johnstone earned the win in his collegiate debut, limiting the Devils to two runs on three hits in six innings with one walk and five strikeouts.
Grobbel, Chasanov, and Romero tallied two hits in the game, while Chasanov was credited with three RBIs. Creegan and Rivera had one hit.
Game Two: FDU-Florham 10, CCNY 4
The Beavers scored the first run of the second game, scripting a run in the third frame when Grobbel blasted tripled with two outs and scored on an RBI single by Creegan.
The Devils responded strongly in the fourth, scoring three runs on four hits and an error to go ahead 3-1.
CCNY cut the lead to one run in the top of the fifth when Tyler DiBlasi scored after leading the inning off with a double to left-center field and reaching home on Grobbel's RBI double.
FDU found their rhythm in the bottom of the fifth, tallying seven runs on five hits and two errors to extend their lead to 10-2.
The Beavers scored two runs in the seventh and final inning as Creegan scored Grobbel and freshman Victor Murra Schott on a two-RBI double.
Grobbel finished the game going a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate. Creegan went 2-for-3 and had three RBIs.
Freshman Brandon Paider earned the loss, tallying out three strikeouts in four innings of work.
Next, the Beavers return to the field on Friday, Mar. 4, for a non-conference contest against Rutgers-Newark.
