Back-to-Back! No. 1 Molloy Baseball Defends Title, Wins Fourth ECC Championship in Last Five Years

Recap courtesy of Molloy University Sports Information NIAGARA FALLS, NY – For the fourth time in five seasons, the top-seeded Molloy baseball team reigns as East Coast Conference Champions, topping the fourth-seeded Knights of Queens College, 17-9. Graduate student Aidan Larkin was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, after hitting .800 driving in six runs, and scoring five times. The cardinal and white improved to 32-17 and clinch a spot in the NCAA tournament. BOX SCORE How it Happened Larkin got the scoring started in the top of the first with an RBI single up the middle to get the Lions on the board. In the top of the second, junior Sean Welsh and Larkin collected run scoring singles apiece to open the Molloy advantage, 3-0. The cardinal and white put together a five-run top of the third to break open the game, 8-0. After the first run of the inning scored off a wild pitch, redshirt senior Matthew Gonchar singled to score a pair of runners. The inning continued with Larkin collecting an RBI after a safety squeeze and senior Nicholas Dagnello capped the inning with a run scoring single. Queens fought back in the bottom of the fourth, rallying for five runs on the back of two doubles and a pair of ground outs to cut the deficit to three, 8-5. Molloy followed with a five-run top of the fifth to reclaim its eight-run lead, 13-5. The inning began with Dagnello bringing in a run with a sacrifice fly. Two batters later, with the bases loaded, junior Sean Serrano walked to plate a run and junior Jack Coogan followed with a run scoring single. Junior Jeremy Taggart concluded the scoring in the frame with a two-run single through the left side. The top of the sixth saw the Lions add three runs following a bases loaded walk from Dagnello, a sacrifice fly from Serrano, and an infield single from Coogan to open the lead to 11, 16-5. The Knights continued to battle back, adding three runs in the bottom of the frame after Thomas Napolitano hit a sac fly and Nick Piazza hit a two-run home run to come within eight, 16-8. A sacrifice fly from Gonchar set the lead at 17-8 before Queens answered with a run in the eighth to come to cut it back to eight, 17-9. Freshman Jayden Patel retired the Knights in order in the bottom of the ninth to clinch the victory and the ECC title. Top Performances Gonchar paced the offense with four hits while scoring three runs and driving in three. Larkin tallied three hits, three RBI, and two runs scored. Welsh scored four times as part of a three hit day. Dagnello drove in three runs. Coogan and Taggart knocked in two runs each while collected three and two hits, respectively. Serrano scored twice and drove in a pair of runs. On the mound, redshirt sophomore Mike Knapp collected his fourth win of the season tossing 5.1 innings and striking out four. Up Next The Lions earned a berth to the NCAA East Regional. The selection show will air Sunday, May 11 at 10:30 p.m. on NCAA.com. Check molloylions.com to stay up to date on the opponent, location, and time of the contest More to follow. 
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