Box Score
Auburndale, Fla. - In a game that was a scorekeeper’s nightmare, the Long Island University baseball team suffered a 19-7 loss at the hands of North Dakota State at Myrtle Lakes Field. Sophomore catcher
Tyler Jones went 2-for-4 with four RBIs including his first collegiate home run.
The battle between the Blackbirds and Bison had a little bit of everything and not necessarily in a good way. The game saw Long Island give up 11 walks, six hit batters, five balks – including a pair that were called after the batter stepped out of the box and plated a run – three wild pitches, a passed ball and a routine ground ball to second turn into a double thanks to some miscommunication in the infield.
Things appeared to get off to a good start for the Blackbirds in the top of the first when second baseman
Gerard Tingos laced the first pitch of the game for a single. He would later come around to score when Jones tripled to left field to put Long Island up 1-0.
Blackbirds starter
Kenny Cedel struggled from the get-go. The senior lefthander never found his rhythm and allowed seven runs in the first frame without getting two outs. Cedel gave up three hits and two walks and hit two more en route to being chased after a third of an inning. The loss dropped him to 0-3 on the season.
Up 7-1 after the first inning, North Dakota State did not rest on its laurels, scoring a run in all but two innings. The Blackbirds got to Bison starter Mark Schroeder for three runs in 1 1/3 innings and scraped two more off Luke Anderson in two innings of work. North Dakota State’s third pitcher of the day, Kyle Kingsley (2-0), earned the win by closing out the game with 5 2/3 innings of four-hit ball. The only runs he gave up came on Jones’ sixth-inning homer to left field. Jones also added an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the third.
The loss was the ninth in a row for Long Island, which fell to 1-11. North Dakota State improved to 5-7. The Blackbirds will return to Florida action on Friday, March 19, taking on Dartmouth at 5:00 p.m.