Baseball
The NYU baseball team hosted a doubleheader against Dean College on Saturday, March 8, winning the first game 12-6. The Violets fell into a hole early, going down 4-0 after the top of the third inning. Powered by a grand slam by graduate student Connor Roggero, the Violets responded with six runs in the bottom of the third inning. NYU maintained the lead the rest of the game. Graduate student Dakota Barbet had three hits, including a double. Graduate student Jonathan Hyman pitched five and one-third innings and earned the win.
In the second game of the day, the Violets won by a score of 7-3. The match was tightly contested before senior Kosta Mocklis gave NYU a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth with a three-run home run — a lead the Violets held the rest of the game. Graduate student Cam Dunn led the team with two hits, three runs and three stolen bases. Junior pitcher Aidan Pawlak threw five innings with no earned runs, and sophomore pitcher Tyler Tedeschi earned the win.
The men’s baseball team will look to add a couple more wins to its 4-4 record when it returns to the diamond for another doubleheader against Dean in Staten Island on Sunday, March 9.
Basketball
The No. 1-ranked men’s team started its NCAA Division-III Championship Tournament run with a 72-36 victory over the State University of New York at Cortland on Friday, March 7, in York, PA. During a game in which the Violets were never behind, graduate student Tristan How led the team in scoring with 17 points, and graduate student Brock Susko added 16 points.
For the first time since 1994, the men’s basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA D-III Tournament after a 62-52 victory on Saturday, March 8, against host York College of Pennsylvania. Though NYU held the lead for almost the entire game, it was a competitive matchup. The Violet lead was as little as three points in the second half, but the team was able to pull out a victory, thanks in part to a 22-point night from How. Graduate student Jack Stone scored 11 points to join How in double-figure scoring.
NYU will host the Sweet 16 matchup against Hardin-Simmons University on Friday, March 14, at the Paulson Center.
The women’s team opened its NCAA D-III Tournament play against Gallaudet University on Friday, March 7, at the Paulson Center. The Violets defeated the Bison 102-62 to earn its 57th straight win. Gallaudet started strong, scoring the first six points of the game — the largest deficit that NYU has faced all season. The Violets responded quickly and held a 25-point lead by halftime. Graduate student Natalie Bruns led the team with 18 points and seven assists, first-year Zahra Alexander scored a career high of 13 points and senior Belle Pellecchia added 13 points and five steals.
The Violets continued their dominant play in the next round with an 83-45 victory over Trinity College. The Violets’ defense led the way, as the team forced 36 turnovers. Bruns put up 23 points, six rebounds, nine assists, five blocks and three steals. Pellecchia scored 19 points and had eight steals.
The Violets will face SUNY Geneseo in the Sweet 16.
Softball
The Violets opened the season with the Triangle Collegiate Softball Classic hosted by William Peace University on Friday, March 7. The first game on Friday against the University of Mary Washington ended in a narrow 5-4 loss after the Violets’ late comeback in the seventh inning came up short. Graduate student Claire Carson and sophomore Nicole Cicchetti each had two hits in the loss. Sophomore Emily Barbire had the first home run of her collegiate career.
On the second game of the day, the Violets lost 1-0 to The College of New Jersey. The only run of the game was scored by TCNJ in the fifth inning. Sophomore Karleigh Kluever threw a complete game with no earned runs for the Violets. First-year Siena Kiefer had two hits.
On Saturday, March 8, the Violets defeated Averett University 3-2. Kluever earned the win and junior Jessie Werthman had the save. Sophomore Alyssa Quary and senior Olivia De Hesselle both had multiple hits.
The Violets’ second game on Saturday ended in a 4-0 defeat to Christopher Newport University. NYU gave up two runs in the third and fourth innings and could not come back from the early deficit. Senior Marina Egbert pitched two hitless innings of relief.
NYU will finish off play at the Classic on Sunday, March 8, when they face host William Peace and Shenandoah University.
Tennis
The men’s tennis team beat Assumption University 5-2 on Sunday, March 2, at the Stadium Tennis Club in the Bronx to bring its record to 3-1 for the season.
Graduate student Philip Martin and junior Boren Zheng kicked off doubles play with a 6-4 victory at the No. 1 spot. The Violets secured the doubles point after first-year Bryan Hui and graduate student Jingyuan Chen earned a 6-3 victory in No. 2 doubles. NYU continued its momentum in singles play, with Zheng, Hui and Chen each winning their singles matches.
The Violets’ next matchup was against the Rochester Institute of Technology at home on Saturday, March 8. The Violets earned a 6-1 victory against the Tigers. NYU dominated its doubles matches, taking all three points. Martin and Zheng won 6-3 at the No. 1 doubles spot, Hui and Chen earned a 6-1 victory at the No. 2 spot and senior Zachary Freier and junior Alex Lee completed the doubles sweep with a 6-4 victory at the No. 3 spot.
In singles play, Zheng won 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 1 spot. After dropping the first set, Chen was able to fight back for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory at the No. 2 singles spot. At the No. 3 spot, Hui cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 victory. Junior Cooper Kline kept the momentum going for NYU at the No. 5 spot with a 7-5 victory, and senior Shrey Arora finished off the day with a 6-4, 6-1 win.
The women’s tennis team earned a dominant victory as it hosted RIT in the Bronx on Saturday, March 8. The Violets won 7-0 against the Tigers, and they started strong, losing only one total game across all three doubles matches. Graduate student Isabella Hartman and first-year Victoria Wang kicked off the doubles with a 6-0 victory at the No. 1 spot. First-year Emma Kast and senior Jimena Menendez won their match 6-1 at the No. 2 doubles spot. At the No. 3 spot, senior Hannah Chang and first-year Norah Staunton finished off doubles play with a 6-0 victory.
In singles, the Violets continued their dominant play. Menendez won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1, and Hartman followed at No. 2 with a 6-0, 6-2 victory. Staunton won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3. First-year Siona Vallabhaneni kept the Violets dominant day going with a 6-0, 6-1 victory at No. 4, and Kast won her match 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 5 spot. Junior Kendall Kamerschen finished off the sweep for the Violets with a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 6.
The team did not drop a set, and it improved its record on the season to 3-1. The Violets return to play on Sunday, March 9 when they host Hobart and William Smith Colleges in the Bronx.
Track & Field
The men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the second and final day of the UAA Championships hosted by the University of Chicago on Sunday, March 2.
Senior Ryan Tobin highlighted the men’s team as he set a UAA meet record and finished first in the men’s 3000m run with a time of 8:15.85. Sophomore Alex Hrycysyzn took first in the men’s mile run with a time of 4:16.77. Sophomore Liam Hagerty closely followed Hrycysyzn in the same event and came in second, completing the race in 4:17.19.
The men’s team scored 47 points on the weekend and finished in sixth place.
On the women’s side, junior Janie Cooper completed the women’s mile run in 4:57.42, which earned her third place. Junior Dasha Jackson earned a fifth-place finish in the 60m hurdles final, with a time of 9.52. First-year Gianna Dawson placed fifth in the 800m run, with a time of 2:17.40.
The women’s team scored 27 points and finished the weekend in seventh place.
Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the Tufts University Qualifying Meet on Saturday, March 8, in Medford, MA.
Graduate student Evan Sherman of the men’s team won the men’s 5000m run with a personal best time of 14:35.41. Hrycysyzn finished third in the mile with a personal best time of 4:13.05.
The women’s team excelled in the 5000m run, finishing with the second, third and fourth placements. Sophomore Josephine Dziedzic came in second in 17:13.31, junior Lucy Gott placed third in 17:18.03 and graduate student Katherine Cochran followed in fourth with a time of 17:26.17. In the 60m hurdles, Jackson finished with a time of 9.28 and placed fourth.
The Violets return to action for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday, March 14, in Rochester, NY.
Contact Matthew Singh at [email protected].
