Baseball Drops 8-1 Decision to Mount St. Mary's

(Box Score)

5/6/07 -- Senior righthander Rich Moran’s (Carmel, N.Y.) outing began well, but the wheels would eventually fall off as Mount St. Mary’s handed the Long Island University baseball team an 8-1 loss to complete a four-game sweep at KeySpan Park. The loss dropped the Blackbirds to 9-32 (3-15 Northeast Conference). The Mountaineers improved to 30-17 (16-4).

Moran held the Mountaineers hitless through the first five innings before allowing a leadoff single to third baseman Matt Eiden in the sixth. Moran walked the next batter before giving up a two-run single to leftfielder Tom Hayes. Designated hitter Josh Vittek followed with a double to right-center field to give Mount St. Mary’s a 3-0 lead.

Moran allowed a two-out, bases-loaded walk in the seventh to put Long Island in a 4-0 hole. Righthander Ryan Ekberg (Carmel, N.Y.) came on and gave up a triple to first baseman Eric Smith. Smith came around to score on a throwing error by shortstop Greg DeSantis (Bridgewater, N.J.), making the score 8-0.

In 6 2/3 innings, Moran (0-7) allowed seven runs on four hits and six walks while striking out three. He also hit a batter.

The Blackbirds got on the board in the bottom of the seventh when rightfielder Frank DiMasi (Staten Island, N.Y.) and DeSantis each hit singles. Centerfielder Johnny Neckar (Fort Myers, Fla.) hit a two-out single to score DiMasi and cut the deficit to 8-1.

Andrew Germuth (7-4) pitched well for the Mount, going the distance for his second complete game of the season. He allowed one run on five hits without walking a batter. Germuth struck out seven batters.

Long Island will return to action on Wednesday, May 9, when the Blackbirds travel to Hemptstead, N.Y., to take on Hofstra at 3:30 p.m.