Late Inning Rally Puts NYU Past Baseball on Final Day of Florida Schedule

AUBURNDALE, Fla. (March 17, 2023) – The Western New England baseball team fell in their final day of their Spring Break trip, dropping a 15-6 contest on Friday morning to the Violets of New York University. 

Records:

• Western New England: 6-2-1
• New York University: 6-4

Pitching Records:

• W: Joe Cetale: 2-0
• L: Matt Lauria: 1-1

How it Happened:
Both teams would go quietly through the first two innings though the Golden Bears would threaten early in the first after Paul Villecco and CJ Willis would reach base though the two runners would not come around to score after NYU SP Tyler Judge got two strikeouts to end the inning.  The Violet went down in order in the top of the first inning while they were put down on three straight outs in the bottom of the second after Western New England starting pitcher Jared Kuryan would dial it in early. 

The Golden Bears grabbed their first runs of the contest in the top of the third inning after first year Ryan Montini collected a leadoff single to get the Golden Bears going. Shortstop John Bova would lace a triple down the left field line, scoring Montini, giving Western New England a 1-0 lead. Paul Villecco would reach on a throwing error by NYU's second baseman, which scored Bova to give WNE the 2-0 lead after 2.5 innings. NYU would respond with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning when both Cam Dunn and Alex Vanlandingham recorded RBIs, evening the score at two after four full innings of play. After breaking the career home run record in yesterday's win, sophomore CJ Willis connected on his fifth home run of the season, this time to right field, scoring Villecco and giving Western New England their two-run lead back, which stood at 4-2. 

NYU would come around and grab their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning after a passed ball and three run home run would give the Violets a 6-4 lead after five innings of play. Western New England would battle back in the next half inning, evening the score at six after Kohtaro Shimada would be put aboard via walk while Ryan Montini would smack his first carrer home run with Western New England, tying the game at six. 

The Violets would break the game wide open in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring seven runs to take a commanding 13-6 lead. Kosta Mocklis, Alex Vanlandingham and Rob Conklin would all collect RBI hits for New York University, giving the designated home team a big seven run lead. Western New England's offense would fall short in the final three innings while NYU would tack on two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth as NYU would defeat Western New England 15-6, dropping the Golden Bears in their final game of their spring break trip. 

Inside the Box Score:

• Despite having five batters collect at least two hits for the Golden Bears, NYU came out flying in the seventh inning and never looked back, batting around in the order to take the seven-run lead and eventually winning 15-6. 
• First Year Ryan Montini provided a spark for the Golden Bears in the losing effort, going three for four at the dish while picking up two RBIs and his first career home run.
• WNE collected 12 hits on the morning, half of which were for extra bases. 
• WNE SP Jared Kuryan went the first five innings, grabbing a no-decision, giving up six hits and six runs (five earned), while walking three and striking out three. 
• NYU reliver Joe Cetale propelled the Violet to victory after shutting down the high powered WNE offense in the final 3.1 innings, giving up just four hits while striking out four. 
• Seven different members of the Violet recorded at least one RBI. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England returns from Spring Break and will take on Clark University on Tuesday, March 21 at 3:00 PM. The Golden Bears will open their home schedule on Thursday, March 23 at 4:00 PM as they take on Massachusetts Maritime Academy.