Danny Etkin's Sacrifice Fly in the Bottom of the Ninth Lifts Baseball to 13-12 Triumph over Mount St. Mary's

(boxscore)

5/15/05 -- Freshman Danny Etkin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) lifted a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning for Long Island, which rallied for a wild 13-12 Northeast Conference triumph over Mount St. Mary’s in the season finale for both schools.

Freshman Bryan Burke (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) led off a tie game in the ninth for LIU (13-25, 9-15 NEC) with a hard-hit single to left. Sophomore Robert Rowen (Rosendale, N.Y.) placed a perfect sacrifice bunt and reached when pitcher Craig Henson overthrew first baseman Blake Burkey, sending Burke to third.

Junior Trey Bell (Georgetown, Del.) was intentionally walked and Etkin followed with a long fly ball to left, easily allowing Burke to score and end the Blackbirds’ five-game skid.

The Mountaineers (18-27, 12-11) plated four runs in the top of the first inning. Joseph Hayes had an RBI single and Josh Vittek added a run-scoring single that eluded Bell in left field, allowing two more runners to cross home.

LIU had its big inning in the fourth, plating four to grab a 7-6 lead. Rowen lined a two-run single up the middle and Bell followed with a long two RBI double to left, his team-leading ninth two-bagger. The Blackbirds scored three runs in the fifth for a 10-7 lead, aided by an RBI single from junior Sean Durkin (Damascus, Md.) and a two-run single by sophomore Marcus Wynn (Plainfield, N.J.).

But the Mountaineers did not quit, plating four in the sixth for an 11-10 lead. Daniel Fowler blasted a leadoff homer, Mike Gioioso scored on a wild pitch and two more crossed home when a grounder by Joe Kotula went under Durkin’s glove at shortstop.

The Blackbirds responded with two in the seventh for a 12-11 cushion on Burke’s RBI single and Bell’s sacrifice fly. The Mountaineers evened it at 12-12 on an RBI groundout by Adam Schlenoff.

Durkin went 4-for-4 for his first four-hit game as a Blackbird and just the team’s second this season. Burke, Bell and junior Nate Olson (Poland, Maine) rapped three hits apiece to help the squad close with 19. Bell finished with three RBI.

Belle Harbor, N.Y. junior Matt Bunyan (1-9) came on in relief, yielding just a hit over 1 2/3 innings to get the victory. Senior starter Chris Brescia (Nanuet, N.Y.) pitched 5 1/3 innings and struck out two in his final game as a Blackbird.

Henson (1-3) allowed three runs -- two earned -- and five hits over 2 1/3 innings with three strikeouts for the Mountaineers. Gioioso, Vittek and Eric Smith finished with two of their team’s 14 hits and Vittek had two RBI.