From NYU Athletics

The New York University baseball team swept a doubleheader against SUNY Old Westbury on Saturday, March 17, to finish its annual spring break trip to Florida 7-0 and improve to 12-0 overall. NYU took the first game 19-10, before completing the sweep with a 9-8 come-from-behind victory in game two.

The Violets used a nine-run fifth inning in the opener to turn an 8-7 lead into a comfortable 10-run advantage. Leadoff hitter Ryan McLaughlin was the star of game one as the junior captain was 3-for-6 at the plate and knocked in six runs.

"We've got a bunch of young guys at the bottom of our order who really know their roles," said McLaughlin. "To knock in six runs from the leadoff spot comes down to those guys getting on base and they did just that today."

Sal Cammisuli earned the victory out of the bullpen, as he was deemed the most effective of the four NYU pitchers who relieved starter Cameron Serapilio-Frank.

In game two, NYU led 4-1 after four innings, but Old Westbury (3-2-1) scored a pair in the fifth and five more in the sixth to go ahead 8-4. The Violets were six outs away from seeing their program-record win streak snapped, but were able to score three times in the six and two in the seventh to earn their first one-run win of the season. McLaughlin had another big offensive performance in game two, going 1-for-1 while reaching via a walk three times and coming around to score three times. Additionally, the second baseman was catalyst for the late-inning rally, as well, as he leadoff both the sixth and seventh innings with a walk. 

McLaughlin's seventh-inning walk was followed by a single from Jonathan Iaione and a run-scoring single from Colman Hendershot, which tied the game. Old Westbury chose to intentionally walk Coltrane Tait to load the bases, before Scott Hilbrandt drew a walk of his own to plate Iaione and win the game.

Tim Salvadore started game two and tossed five innings. Senior captain Matthew Millus came out of the bullpen to earn the win, his first of the season. He struck out four over two innings of work and kept the Panthers off the scoreboard in the seventh to keep the deficit only one run. 

"Millus is the emotional leader of this team, and he gave us a shot to win it there at the end," added McLaughlin. "He's more used to save situations, but I'm sure he's happy getting the win today."

NOTABLES:

- All nine Violets in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit in game one, marking the third-straight game the feat was accomplished. 

- Hendershot was 5-for-9 at the plate in Saturday's games and drove in four runs while scoring three of his own.

- Tait recorded one hit in game one and two base knocks in game two to increase his hitting streak to 21 games dating back to last season.

- Cooper Halpern reached base 10 times in 11 plate appearances on Saturday. He recorded two hits, four walks and was hit three times.