The Ramapo baseball team defeated Saint Joseph’s Long Island on Wednesday at home in a close 7-6 win. The Roadrunners pounded out 13 hits, but still won by just a narrow margin.
The win improves the Roadrunners’ record to 14-7-1 overall this season. They are 12-4 in games outside of the New Jersey Athletic Conference.
Saint Joseph’s opened the scoring in the top of the first, but the Roadrunners answered with three runs of their own from juniors Scott Shields, Dan McEldowney and sophomore Joe Venturino.
In the second inning, Saint Joseph’s added another run to cut the deficit to 3-2, but the Roadrunners outscored their opponents for the second consecutive inning. This time, they got a run each from juniors Kevin Kelly and James Hardgrove.
Neither team was able to score for the next two innings, but Saint Joseph’s took the lead and held it for the first time in the game with two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. The seventh inning was scoreless and the Roadrunners found themselves down 6-5 going into the top of the eighth.
The Roadrunners held Saint Joseph’s off the board in the eighth inning and then scored two runs of their own, which would be enough to win the game. Sophomore Ian Osterman blasted the ball down the right field line, sending Venturino and sophomore Ryan Rinsky home, giving Ramapo the 7-6 lead.
Ramapo was able to hold on while Saint Joseph’s desperately tried to score in the top of the ninth inning, and allowed no runs in the inning to secure the win.
The Roadrunners’ next two games will be NJAC matchups with the Montclair Red Hawks this Thursday and Friday. Montclair is 8-12 overall and 3-3 in the NJAC.
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mmontal1@ramapo.edu
