Box Score
TROY, N.Y. – Behind a strong outing from senior lefthander Joe Zongol (Flower Mound, TX/Southington), the ninth-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) baseball team defeated Old Westbury, 15-1, in a non-league contest at Robison Field. With the win the Red Hawks improve to 17-1. The Panthers fall to 8-18.
Zongol, who is now 4-1, allowed one run on two hits over six innings of work. He struck out four and walked one.
Old Westbury scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Joe Mazzarese (Copiague, NY/Walter G. O’Connell) reached on a bunt single, stole second and then third before being driven in on a groundout by designated hitter David Collado (Copiague, NY/Copiague).
Rensselaer answered immediately, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first, as four straight Red Hawks reached after two were out. Senior rightfielder Dan Valentine (Goshen, CT/Avon Old Farms) singled and advanced to second after sophomore designated hitter Patrick Reardon (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) was hit by a pitch. Classmate Camden Mamigonian (Dover, NH/Dover) then drove a double to the wall, which scored two. Freshman second baseman Dan Stroud (Central Nyack, NY/Nyack) capped off the rally with a run-scoring single, plating Mamigonian.
The Red Hawks added two runs in the second and three in both the third and fourth innings to take an 11-1 lead. After a scoreless fifth inning, junior Mike Giacoia (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro) highlighted the Red Hawks four-run sixth with a pinch hit three-run double.
Senior right-hander Tim Klein (Westwood, NJ/St. Joseph Regional) earned the save after completing three innings in relief. He surrendered a hit and a walk, while striking out one. Mamigonian finished the day 3 for 4 with two doubles, three runs scored and two runs batted in. Stroud went 2 for 3 with a run and two RBI, while senior shortstop Matt Muscatiello (Kinderhook, NY/Ichabod Crane) ended up 2 for 3 with a double, a run scored and three RBI.
Panthers starter Jorge Hiraldo (Brooklyn, NY/Bushwick), who made his first start of the season, allowed 11 runs (9 earned) on 12 hits. He struck out two and walked three. Offensively, Old Westbury was led by Mazzarese, who finished 1 for 4 with a run scored.
The Red Hawks return to action on Wednesday when they host Castleton St. at Robison Field (4pm).
