Dominican Chargers Split Double Header With St. Thomas University

Courtesy of St. Thomas University Sports Information Department

Miami Gardens, Fla.--St. Thomas University (13-10) and Dominican College (N.Y.) (7-5) each took a game in Saturday's doubleheader at Esposito Stadium. Eddie Machin pitched a two-hitter in the Bobcats' 11-1, opening-game win, while Tommy Mejia (Brooklyn, NY) allowed just four
hits as the Chargers salvaged the final game of the three-game set, 4-1.

Game One:

Machin shut down the Dominican batters and Daniel DiFabio had three hits and three runs scored in an 11-1 win in the opener of the twinbill.

Jorge Lago gave St. Thomas a 1-0 lead in the first when he singled and later scored when Eliezer Nunez (Brooklyn, NY) dropped Jojo Gutierrez fly to center.

Dominican got the run on back in the second when Chad Duesler (Northville, NY) led off with a walk and Frank Maynard (Brooklyn, NY) pinch ran for him. Jose Escalera (Bronx, NY) followed with a double over Gutierrez in right to score Maynard and tie the game.

The Bobcats broke the game open over the next two innings, scoring four runs each in the second and third.

Adrian F. Gonzalez walked to lead off the second, stole second and moved to third when Chargers starting pitcher Todd Spindler (Chesapeake, VA) balked him over.
Spindler soon left the game after his 2-2 pitch to DiFabio sent him off the mound and toward the foul line, holding his right elbow in agony.

Ray Cueto (Bronx, NY) relieved Spindler and gave up a run-scoring double to DiFabio on his second pitch to give St. Thomas a 2-1 lead. Jose Rey then walked and Alex Pascual brought home both DiFabio and Devin Delacruz - running for Rey - with a double down the leftfield
line. A subsequent Lago single brought Pascual plateward with the Bobcats' fifth run.
 
St. Thomas added four more in the third, sparked by Aliercy Nunez's lead-off double.  DiFabio knocked him in with a single to right. A pair of Dominican errors produced a run and kept the inning alive before Lago and Juan Santana added run-scoring singles to give the
Bobcats a 9-1 lead.

Adrian B. Gonzalez's two-run single in the fourth gave St. Thomas a 10-run margin that forced the game's termination when Machin threw a scoreless fifth.

The junior pitched five innings, allowing one run on two hits. He struck out five and walked two. Machin has now permitted just two hits in his last nine innings pitched.

Spindler took the loss after Cueto gave up the lead by allowing Spindler's inherited runner to score in the first. He pitched one-plus innings, allowing one hit and two runs - one earned. The Dominican bullpen allowed nine runs - six earned - in three innings of
work.