BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – It was a low scoring afternoon of baseball at a chilly LIU Post baseball field, but the Pioneers swept Queens College to secure their third consecutive series victory in East Coast Conference play April 7.
 
The teams combined for just six runs and 21 hits over the 16 innings of action. Five Pioneers recorded two hits on the day, but not one player added more than one run or one RBI. The pitching dominated for the Pioneers, as sophomore Noah Lorenzo tossed 8.1 innings with five strikeouts to earn the win in game one, while senior Brian Tinney helped close out the win by striking out the only two batters he faced for the save in game one. Freshman Joseph Valentino added another outstanding outing, going the distance with seven innings in game two, striking out five and allowing just four hits to earn his second victory.
 
Game One – LIU Post 3, Queens 1
 
The Pioneers managed nine hits in the opening contest but the Queens pitching staff stranded seven runners on base to limit the LIU Post offense. The Knights took their only lead of the day in the top of the second on an RBI-double, taking a 1-0 lead.
 
In the bottom of the frame, sophomore Zach Fritz battled Queens' Dylan Hughes to a 12-pitch at-bat, eventually winning the battle with a one-out double to right-center field to drive home junior Michael Manzione to bring the score level at 1-1. Two batters later Fritz crossed the plate on a balk to give the Pioneers the lead in what proved to be the winning run. The Green and Gold added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by senior Joe Spitaleri and the duo of Lorenzo and Tinney took care of the rest to help secure at least a split of the season series.
 
Game Two – LIU Post 2, Queens 0
 
Only seven total hits were recorded in game two, as Valentino kept Queens off-balance all afternoon on the mound. The Pioneers needed just three hits to earn the victory, as senior Ramger Iglesias drove home a run on a ground-out in the bottom of the third and junior Dave Brehm drove home a run on a ground ball deep up the middle.
 
Valentino stranded four runners on base throughout the contest, allowing just one runner to reach second base and inducing two double-play groundouts. Queens put a runner on second base in the top of the sixth, advancing the runner to second with a sacrifice bunt after a leadoff single, but the freshman struck out the following batter and forced a foul-out to right field to end the inning.
 
With the win, the Pioneers have now taken at least three of four games in each of their first three conference series to begin the season. The team will go for the four-game sweep tomorrow at Hennekens Stadium at 12:00 p.m.