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Billy Griffo scored on a wild pitch in the ninth inning to clinch a dramatic 13-12 victory for the New York University baseball team against Centenary College on Thursday night, April 23, at MCU Park in Brooklyn. Griffo's run helped the Violets erase a three-run deficit in the final inning and earn their eighth win in their last nine games.
"That was a game that we would've lost three weeks ago," said NYU Head Coach Doug Kimbler. "The guys are really starting to learn how to make plays to win games."
NYU (17-19) fell behind early as the Cyclones scored twice in the top of the first inning. The Violets would rally, however, tallying three runs of their own in the bottom of the third inning to take a 3-2 lead through three frames. The three-run inning was highlighted by a CJ Picerni RBI single down the right field line to score Matthew Miller.
Centenary (14-14) would take the lead back with four runs in the top of the fourth inning. The Cyclones took advantage of seven NYU errors during the contest, including two in the Cyclones' four-run fourth.
"To make seven errors and find a way to win is impressive," added Kimbler. "I'm obviously not happy with our defense, but it's good to see that we were able to overcome it."
The Violets headed into the home half of the sixth inning down 8-3, but rallied to score five and tie the game. The big blow in the inning came off the bat of Griffo, who laced a bases-clearing triple to deep centerfield. Miller also added an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the inning.
Centenary responded, however, with three runs in the top of the seventh to take the another lead. NYU scored its ninth run in the bottom of the seventh, before the Cyclones added a run in the eighth.
The Violets scored all four of their ninth-inning runs with two outs. Scott Hilbrandt plated the first run of the inning with an RBI single. Griffo then hit a clutch two-RBI single up the middle to plate Hilbrandt and Jeremy Wayne and tie the game. After stealing second base, Griffo reached third and ultimately scored on two wild pitches.
Highlights:
- Chase Denison started on the mound for NYU and struck out seven in 5.2 innings of work.
- Picerni, Griffo and Michael Vokulich each had three hits to lead the Violets.
- Griffo had five RBIs on the day and scored three runs, as well.
- Matthew Millus did not allow a hit in 1.1 innings of work out of the bullpen.
"With winning comes some great responsibilities," concluded Kimbler. "We need to keep doing the little things and hopefully we can keep this streak going."