Paramus, New Jersey – The BMCC Baseball team opened their 2023 season at Bergen County Community College during a Sunday non-conference doubleheader. After dropping the first contest 27-4, the Panthers showed outstanding resilience in the second game rallying from a 10-1 but having their comeback fall short in a 12-11 defeat. The Bulldogs extended their winning streak to five, improving to 9-5, while the Panthers fell to 0-2.
 
Game 1 – Bergen County Community College 27, Borough of Manhattan 4
Bergen County Community College got out of the gate quickly with four first-inning runs as Steven Peralta started things off with a line drive double to left field and then scored on a passed ball to make it 1-0. Then an RJ Mehnert triple stretched the lead to 2-0 and extended it to 3-0 when he stole home before Kevin Riva's pop single made it 4-0 after one inning of play. The Bulldogs would explode for two 10-run innings in the second and four-inning, kicking things off in the second as Myles Nova drew a lead-off and scored on three straight passed balls to make it 5-0. Luis De La Cruz reached on an error, scoring Julian Pinto and Peralta, who drew back-to-back walks to make it 7-0. Carlos Pascual and Mehnert recorded two straight singles to stretch the lead to 8-0 and 9-0 before Mehnert scored on a passed ball to make it 10-0. Pascual scored when a pitch hit Peralta to make it 11-0, then Rivas was walked in, and Ryan Dacey grounded into a fielder's choice, scoring Nova to make it 13-0. Sophomore Adrian Beckles (Bronx, New York) balked and scored Peralta to make it 14-0 after two innings. The Bulldogs put up another 10-run inning in the bottom of the fourth, putting their first three runners aboard on a walk, single, and fielders choice single before Beckles hit Dacey to move their lead to 15-0. After Enrique Dager was walked in to make it 16-0, Pasual registered an RBI single, and Pritchard ripped a three-run double and Dacey a two-run double to make it 24-0 after four innings. The Panthers finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth on a Sacrifice fly RBI from freshman Nicholas Mattera (Moorpark, California). In the top of the seventh, sophomore Gerardo Galan Berihuete (Brooklyn, New York) scored on a passed ball, and classmates Abdel Raheem Dolah (Brooklyn, New York), and Maxwell Jimenez (Dominican Republic) smacked back-to-back RBI singles. However, the surge was ended by Dolah being thrown out at home for a 27-4 Bergen County C.C. win.

Reyes led all Panthers with two runs scored while Mattera joined him with a hit and an RBI alongside Jimenez and Dolah. Mattera and Galan Berihuete also both scored a run in the contest.
 
Dolah took the loss in the game, allowing ten runs on five hits over one inning, striking out one. Freshman Peter Rodriguez Reyes (Bronx, New York) and Beckles entered the game as relief, throwing three innings and two innings, respectively, with Reyes striking out two.
 
Patrick Roche picked up his first victory of the year, striking out three and allowing one run on two hits. Miles Nova, who started the game, tossed a game-high five strikeouts, walked one, and allowed one hit, while Jake Noonan came on in relief as well, allowing three runs on two hits while walking two and striking out one.
 
Game 2 – Bergen County C.C. 12, Borough of Manhattan 11
The Panthers struck first in the second game when freshman Nicholas Mattera (Moorpark, California) uncorked a solo shot to left field to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead after one inning. The Bulldogs would erupt for ten straight runs with two three-run innings in the bottom of the first and third and two each in the bottom of the second and fourth. After Yonathon Vargas drew a walk and a pitch hit Ryan Dacey, RJ Mehnert would send a three-run blast over the center field fence to put the Bergen C.C. back in front 3-1 after one inning. After Bulldog pitcher Stephen Crandall retired three of the four batters he faced in the top of the second inning, his teammates provided two more runs in the bottom of it when Vargas reached on an error by sophomore Abdel Raheem Dolah (Brooklyn, New York) which scored Enrique Dager and William Wallentine to make it 5-1. After a one-two-three inning by Crandall, a Christopher Pritchard sacrifice fly RBI made it 6-1, then Bryan Maldonado scored on a passed ball to make it 7-1, and Wallentine capped it off with an RBI single to make it 8-1. In the bottom of the fourth, Vargas scored on a passed ball, and Dacey provided an RBI sacrifice fly to make it 10-1. The Panthers would begin a furious comeback with a seven-run fifth inning. Freshmen Peter Marino (New York, New York) and Adonis Suarez (Queens, New York) got things going in the top of the fifth with back-to-back singles, then classmate Peter Rodriguez Reyes (Bronx, New York) drew a one-out walk, and sophomore Frank Reyes (Brooklyn, New York) ripped a two-run double with the bases loaded to cut the deficit to 10-3. Freshman Jeffrey Roldan (New York, New York) was able to get on next on a dropped third strike scoring Reyes. Mattera would rip a line drive and reached on an error by Pritchard to score Reyes and cut the lead to 10-5. Dolah wasted no time at the next at-bat, ripping the first pitch he saw for an RBI double to get the margin to 10-6 before Marino blasted a two-run single with two outs to get the Panthers within two runs, 10-8 going into the bottom of the fifth. Marino retired three of the following four batters in the bottom of the inning, and Christopher Rios followed for the Bulldogs putting down three of the four batters he faced in the top of the sixth. Bergen Community College would add some runs to make it 12-8 before the Panthers put together a strong final surge in the top of the seventh. Mattera opened the inning with a line drive single to left field, then Marino brought him across with a two-out RBI single to get the Panthers within three, 12-9. Suarez kept the rally going unloading one to right field, and then scored on an error before Rodriguez-Reyes uncorked a two-run double to get BMCC within a run, 12-11. However, the Bulldogs ended the suspense when Reyes stepped into the box at the top of the order, grounding out to short to preserve a 12-11 victory.

The Panthers racked up 11 hits in the second game, with Marino, Reyes, Suarez, and Mattera all recording multi-hit games. Marino smacked a team-high three hits and drove in a team-best three runs, while Reyes, Suarez, and Mattera each had two hits apiece.

Crandall got the victory for the Bulldogs striking out ten batters while eight runs on six hits. Rios came in relief for the last two innings and allowed three runs on five hits while striking out one.
 
Freshman Christopher Raftery (New York, New York) took the loss for the Panthers surrendering five runs on two hits over one and one-third innings, striking out two and walking one. Marino and Suarez pitched in relief, with Marino allowing no hits and giving up two runs in 1.1 innings pitches and Suarez allowing four runs on four hits with four walks and a strikeout. 
 
The Panthers look to grab their first win of the season in two days with their home opener on Tuesday, March 21, against CUNYAC opponent Queensborough Community College at 3:30 p.m. from Padavan-Preller Complex. For more information, please visit the BMCC Baseball Schedule Page.
 
 
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The athletic program at Borough of Manhattan Community College encompasses a total of seven varsity teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level. For the latest news on the Panthers, please visit us at https://bmccathletics.com - The official site of BMCC Athletics. Follow the Panthers on Instagram (@bmcc_athletics) and Twitter (@BMCCAthletics), and Like Us on Facebook (BMCC Athletics).