Newark, Del. – With their backs against the wall, the No. 6 seed Queens College baseball team (34-18 overall) matched up against the No. 7 seed Golden Falcons of Felician University in the loser's bracket on Day 2 of the NCAA East Regional Tournament No. 2 bracket.
A loss to the Golden Falcons would see the Knights' season come to an end, while a win would allow them to continue to keep battling for the East Regional Crown.
As they have done all season, the Knights would not go away without a fight and they would do it big as they took an early lead and never let up. But as Felician cut their lead to 5-4, a big hit in the top of the seventh would see Queens get the insurance runs they needed to close out the game and earn a 7-4 victory to advance to Day 3 of the tournament.
With the win, head coach Chris Reardon and his 2023 Knights now have accomplished something the 1998 Knights team could not which is earn the program's first NCAA Tournament victory in program history.
Offensively the Knights would outhit the Golden Falcons 14-4 as all starting players recorded a hit in the game led by five multi-hit games with senior Jayson Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y.) (2-4 AB, 2B, 2RBI, R, BB), senior Anthony Fontana (Wantagh, N.Y.) (2-5, RBI, R), freshman Jorsixt Jimenez (Queens, N.Y.) (2-5), senior Reed Hoskins (Freeport, N.Y.) (2-3, 3R, 2BB) and rookie Andrew Ramirez (Walnut, Calif.) (2-4, R) combined for 10 hits, three RBI and six runs on the day.
While sophomore Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.) (1-5, R), sophomore Juan De La Rosa (Bronx, N.Y.) (1-5, RBI), junior Francis Segarra (Bronxville, N.Y.) (1-4, RBI) and senior Teovaldo Estevez (Bronx, N.Y.) (1-3, 2RBI) combined for four hits, and four RBI.
As the offense did their job, the pitching trio of junior Jordan Sanabria (Woodside, N.Y.) (W 6-3, 5.2 IP, 3H, 4ER, 5BB, 3K), senior Stephen Castro (Bayside, N.Y.) (0.1 IP) and sophomore Joshuel Rodriguez (Bay Shore, N.Y.) (S 1, 3.0 IP, H, 1K) combined to limit the Golden Falcons to four hits with four runs scored as Sanabria's 5.2 solid innings pitched would earn the junior to become the Knight player to record an NCAA Tournament win while picking up his sixth win of the season, while Rodriguez became the first player to record a save in Tournament play and earned his first save of the season in the victory.
Queens wasted no time giving Sanabria an early run as Rodopoulos opened the game with a double to right center. But the Golden Falcons would retire the next two batters before Fontana put the Knights up 1-0 with an RBI single up the middle.
But the Golden Falcons used a walk to their advantage as they tied the game by scoring on a wild pitch before Sanabria struck out the last batter to end the inning.
Back to square one with the game tied 1-1, Hoskins opened the top of the second inning with a walk before a bunt from Ramirez gave the Knights two base runners with no outs.
As the Golden Falcons got back-to-back outs, a wild pitch on the second out would allow both base runners to advance into scoring position and the Scarsdale native Rodopoulos would make the Golden Falcons pay with a two-RBI single up the middle as Queens extended their lead to 3-1 before Sanabria put up a zero in his response to the Knights two runs in the bottom of the second inning,
But in the bottom of the third inning, Felician looked to use a one-out hit by pitch and a Knights fielding error to their advantage.
As an RBI single to right field saw the Knights lead cut down to 3-2, an very alert Knights defense would get a crucial second out on a 9-2-6-1 scoring play to prevent the tying run before Sanabria got the third out by inducing a pop up to Cisco.
After seeing their lead cut down to 3-2, the Knights' offense kept the bats rolling as Segarra who returned to the starting lineup for the first time since April 6 would tack on a RBI single to left field as Hoskins scored from second for a 4-2 lead.
Working with his defense in the bottom of the fourth, Sanabria faced the bare minimum despite allowing a one-out walk. He would end the inning inducing a 6-4-3 double play as Queens kept their 4-2 lead intact heading into the top of the fifth inning.
Looking to keep the pressure going, Cisco singled up the middle to open the top of the fifth before the Golden Falcons got back-to-back outs. But Rosa would put the Knights up 5-2 with an RBI single through the left side.
Once again the Woodside native would face the bare minimum as he retired the Golden Falcons in order in the bottom of the fifth to keep the pressure on the home side on the scoreboard.
With the Knights leading 5-2 leading into the bottom of the sixth, the Golden Falcons would attempt to start a rally as they opened the inning with a walk before back-to-back hits saw the Knights' lead cut down to 4-3.
But Sanabria and his defense would get two straights before the second walk of the inning saw the junior' outing come to an end as Reardon and the coaching staff turned to senior Castro for the crucial third out with the tying run at third base.
Using only three pitches, the Bayside senior would get the last out of the inning as he induced a grounder to Rosa to keep his team in front to the score of 5-4.
As a three-run lead was cut down to one going into the top of the seventh inning and momentum around Bob Hannah Field seem to be shifting towards the Golden Falcons as they looked to rally.
But the Knights' offense had other ideas as Jimenez and Fontana began the inning with back-to-back singles before Felician got the first out. A single from Hoskins would load the bases for the Knights before a fielder's choice play got Jimenez out at home plate, but the bases were still loaded for Estevez.
The senior from the Bronx battled to keep his at-bat alive and potentially the Knights' season for another day before he poked a two-RBI single to right center as Queens extended their lead back to three, 7-4 after the completion of the top of the seventh inning.
As Estevez shifted the momentum back to Queens, Rodriguez would effectively put the game away by working three shutout innings as he allowed only one hit in his three innings of work.
The Bay Shore native would work with his defense including two back-to-back inning enders to Rodopoulos out in left center field who would make a flying catch to end the bottom of the eighth before a diving catch was made to end the game as Queens defeated Felician 7-4 to advance to Day 3 of the Tournament and live to fight another day.
UP NEXT: It's Win and keep advancing situations for head coach Chris Reardon and the Knights as they now need to sweep a Saturday (May. 20) afternoon doubleheader to force the if necessary game seven of the Tournament on Sunday (May. 21) afternoon.
Day 3 of the tournament will begin against host No. 2 seed Lightning of Goldey-Beacom College at 1:00 p.m. with the winner advancing to the championship game against No. 3 seed Le Moyne College to be played 50 minutes later.
Provided by the Queens Sports Information Department.
