Felician Athletics - 4/23/07 BASEBALL - Felician Comes From 7-0 Down To Beat First-Place Caldwell

PARSIPPANY, N.J. -- A nine-run fifth inning keyed Felician College's come-from-behind, 15-11 CACC baseball victory over host Caldwell College on Monday afternoon at Smith Field. Caldwell rebounded to win a second, non-conference game between the teams, 13-7.

In Game 1, Caldwell (18-9, 9-3), the CACC's first-place team, took a 7-0 lead after three innings. Felician received a solo homerun from Frank Quintana (Miami, FL) in the fourth, then put 11 consecutive runners on base after having its first two batters retired in the fifth. Key hits in the inning were a two-run single by Chris Flynn (Keyport, NJ), a two-run double from Albie Sanguiliano (Flemington, NJ), a pinch-hit, go-ahead two-run single by Marcos Torres (Miami, FL) and a rally-capping two-run homerun by Vinnie DiBenedetti (Forked River, NJ).

Caldwell chased Golden Falcon starter Nick Riker (Highlands, NJ) (3-1) and pulled within 10-9 with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Felician (16-21, 5-5) put the game away with five runs in the eighth inning, keyed by a Kenny Vanderhee (Aventura, FL) three-run double. Riker yielded seven earned runs on nine hits in five-plus innings.

Kevin Ernst (Manalapan, NJ) escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth, yielding a run on a groundout, to highlight his three innings of relief work, and Jeff Calabrese (Freehold, NJ) pitched a scoreless ninth. Vanderhee and Dave Schoer (Manalapan, NJ) had four hits apiece, while Billy Ryan (Toms River, NJ) was 4 for 6 for the Cougars.

In the seven-inning second game, Caldwell, which leads the nation in runs per game, took a 10-0 lead after two innings. Adric Saxon's (Coral Springs, FL) three-run homer highlighted the Cougars' seven-run second inning. Omar Velazquez (Astoria, NY) (1-0) earned his first career victory, allowing two earned runs over four innings, and also went 2 for 3 with a double and three runs scored.

Ray Keelan (Barnegat, NJ) was 2 for 3 with a homer and three RBI for the Cougars. Felician's Mike Urciuoli (Marlboro, NJ) hit his first career homerun and his school's record-breaking 36th of the season. The Golden Falcons hit 35 homers in 2006. Quintana went 2 for 3.