4/29/2006 - (Purchase, NY) – Just because the Mount Saint Vincent Baseball team has been eliminated from the Skyline Conference playoffs doesn’t mean that there isn’t something to play for. Sporting one of the youngest rosters in the Conference, the 2006 has been a year of “almosts” for the Mount. They almost upset Stevens early in the season, and gave playoff-bound Manhattanville and Centenary runs for their money as the season moved along. But Saturday proved just how good the Dolphin team can be … and perhaps how good they will be as their vaunted sophomore class turns into juniors. After a 9-2 drubbing at the hands of Conference power St. Joseph’s (LI) to open Saturday’s doubleheader, the Mount rallied for a 2-0 win that not only proved that the Mount can very much compete with the best in the Skyline, but also dealt a potentially lethal blow to the Golden Eagles’ aspirations to be the top seed during next week’s Conference playoffs.

The opener was an ugly affair in which three Dolphin errors led to five Golden Eagle unearned runs during a seven-run loss. St. Joseph’s scored the first nine runs of the game before the Mount scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning thanks to an RBI ground out by Nick Triolo (Homer, NY/Homer Central HS), and an unearned run as well.

The disappointing opening game set the stage for one of the finest performances during the young career of sophomore pitcher Jon O’Leary (Bohemia, NY/Connetquot HS). O’Leary was simply masterful during the night-cap, pitching a complete game shut-out in which he allowed only four hits, struck out seven, and walked only one. More importantly, Mount Saint Vincent did not make an error and allowed O’Leary’s brilliance to stand. O’Leary now leads the Mount with a 1.67 ERA during eight starts.

The Dolphins won the game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to RBI singles by freshmen Josh Cuozzo (Westbury, NY/Clarke HS) and Brendan Russo (Westbury, NY/Clarke HS). The two singles were the Mount’s only two hits of the game, but were enough for O’Leary to breeze his way to victory.

Mount Saint Vincent returns to action tomorrow when they host Maritime College for a single game at 3:00 p.m. at Purchase College.