OLD WESTBURY, NY – The SUNYIT baseball team split a pair of nine inning contests on the campus of the SUNY College at Old Westbury Friday, defeating Baruch College 8-3 before falling to Old Westbury 8-2.  The Wildcats snapped their five-game losing streak and are now 4-8 overall.

The Wildcats fell behind early against Baruch, trailing 1-0 in the top of the third.  But that's where senior captain Dan Orza (Pleasant Valley, NY/Arlington) would drive in two runs on an RBI single to put SUNYIT up 2-1.  After stealing second, Orza would then be brought home on a single to left field by junior Michael McCrone (Whitney Point, NY/Hudson Valley CC) that put the Wildcats up for good at 3-1.  Two more runs were scored on RBI singles from sophomore John LeClair (Mohawk, NY/Cortland State) and Orza in the top of the six, and after Baruch drove in two runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh, SUNYIT sealed the deal with a three-run outing in the ninth.

Orza finished 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBI, two stolen bases and one run scored, while senior Lance Bull (Hudson Falls, NY/Hudson Falls) went 2-for-5 with two RBI and one run scored.  Senior Anthony Surber (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills) stole three bases and scored a run.

Junior Patrick Baker (Ronkonkoma, NY/Connetequot) pitched seven strong innings, giving up three runs on six hits while striking out five batters to record his second win of the season. Juniors Tyler Miles (Frankfort, NY/Fulton-Montgomery CC) and Anthony Osorio (Amsterdam, NY/Fulton-Montgomery CC) each pitched an inning and allowed no hits while both registering a strikeout to finish off the game.

Manuel Guerrero drove in two runs for Baruch, while John Yuksekol scored a run and had one stolen base.

SUNYIT was not so fortunate in its second contest of the day, going 9-for-35 at the plate as a team and leaving 10 runners on base.  Old Westbury put three runs on the board in the bottom of the third and exploded for five more runs in the fourth by taking advantage of five Wildcat errors in the inning.

SUNYIT's only runs came in the fifth on an RBI single by Surber and in the eighth when Orza scored from third thanks to a wild pitch.  Orza finished 2-for-5 with a double, while McCrone went 2-for-3 with a triple and senior Kevin Burr (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) hit a double and scored a run.

Anthony Orsano hit a homerun in the third and finished 2-for-4 with two RBI for Old Westbury, while Melvin Simmons went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.  Chris Sanabria struck out seven in five and a third innings of work for the win.

The Wildcats will be back in action tomorrow when they travel to take on the City College of New York for a doubleheader.  Game one is scheduled to begin at noon.

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