**TRIBE 10, NYIT 6**
The College completed a sweep of the New York Institute of Technology Sunday afternoon, defeating the Bears 10-6 and earning its ninth victory in 10 games.
Junior pitcher Jeremy Neustifter earned the victory, pitching seven innings while only surrendering one run on two hits. Senior leftfielder Greg Maliniak, junior centerfielder Jeff Jones and junior first baseman Mike Sheridan powered the offensive attack, going a combined five for 14 with five RBIs.
With the victories this weekend, the Tribe improved its overall record to 25-11, while the Bears dropped to 8-15-1 for the season.
After a walk-off win Friday night and a hard-fought 15-9 victory in game one of a doubleheader Saturday, the Tribe took the field for game two, in an attempt to take the first three games of the four-game series. Sophomore Kevin Landry took the mound for the Tribe.
“The first two games were pretty tight the whole way,” freshman infielder Kevin Alas said. “We expect the Bears to come out swinging here in game three of the series. We need Landry to come up big and shut them down early to squash any momentum.”
The College opened the scoring early in the top of the first inning, with a lead-off home run by junior third baseman Tyler Stampone. After junior centerfielder Ben Guez walked, Sheridan launched a two-run homer to right field to give the Tribe a 3-0 lead. The following inning, Stampone reached first with a two-out single. Guez then hit an opposite field two-run home run, increasing the Tribe’s lead to 5-0.
Landry, pitching in his first game this season since coming off the disabled list, cruised through the first three innings. However, he ran into some trouble in the fourth and fifth innings, surrendering two RBI singles. Landry was relieved in the top of the fifth inning with a 5-2 lead, yielding two earned runs on seven hits.
The Tribe tacked on some insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-RBI single from freshman infielder Derrick Osteen, boosting the College’s lead to 7-2. Landry’s replacement, senior Pat Kantakevich, pitched the final two and two-thirds innings, allowing only one hit, to pick up the save.
“It was outstanding to have him back,” Head Coach Frank Leoni said about Landry. “Although he’s still not 100 percent, he did a really nice job and stuck to his pitch count. He competed, threw strikes, got outs and gave our team a chance to win.”
The Tribe faces Liberty University tonight at 7 p.m. and plays at Longwood University Wednesday.
