Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. - Senior starting pitcher Adam Volk (W. Orange, N.J.) went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI, while classmate Joel Feigenbaum (Chicago, Ill.) pitched six innings of four-hit, two-run, (career-high) 13-strikeout relief Thursday night at Taft High School, as the Yeshiva University baseball team evened its Skyline Conference record at 1-1 on the young season and provided first-year head coach Albert Baez with his first collegiate victory with an 8-6 triumph over visiting NYU-Poly.

The host Maccabees (1-4, 1-1 Skyline) avenged a 12-8 defeat at the hands of the Jays (1-5, 1-1) just nine days prior, and earned a split in the teams' season series in the process.

Yeshiva's Nos. 2-through-4 hitters, senior left fielder Jonathan Berger (Teaneck, N.J.), junior shortstop Jake Frankel (Tarzana, Calif.) and Volk combined to hit .500 on the night (7-for-14), scored five of the team's runs and swiped seven (of the Macs' 10) stolen bases in as many efforts. Berger (three SB) and Frankel (2B, two SB) each went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, while Volk (3 IP, H, 7 BB, 4 K) fired 41 of his 78 pitches for strikes in his first action on the bump of the 2013 campaign.

Feigenbaum now has 24 strikeouts on the hill through two appearances on the year, tossed 75 of his 111 pitches for strikes, and settled down after a two-run fourth inning to start his pitching efforts to allow just two hits by NYU-Poly the rest of the night.

After Volk stranded a runner on second base with two strikeouts to end the top of the first, YU picked up five runs in the bottom of the frame to take the lead for good. Senior catcher Yaniv Lautman (Cleveland, Ohio; 1-for-4, R, SH) led off with a single through the left side, before Berger beat out a bunt single. On the play, the Jays' throw to nab Lautman at third got away from the fielder, allowing him to give Yeshiva a lead it would never relinquish. Berger, who moved to second on the error, came home two pitches later when Frankel laced a line-drive single to center. Volk's single through the left side put runners at the corners, before the Macs pulled off a successful double steal to send Frankel across with the home team's third run of the night. When senior first baseman Dani Secemski (Teaneck, N.J.) walked two batters later, Volk and he pulled off another double steal, with the former advancing home on an errant throw by the catcher to make the score 4-0. NYU-Poly starter Christian Conroy (7 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 4 ER, BB, 12 K) appeared to be out of trouble after a strikeout and an infield pop-up behind the mound, however, a misplay on the latter effort allowed Secemski to cross the plate.

NYU-Poly took advantage of three Macs errors in the top of the second to pull within a 5-4 count, before the top of Yeshiva's order responded with two runs in its half of the stanza to push its lead back to three. Berger sent a one-out single up the middle, before stealing second base. He moved to third when Frankel's double to left-center fell between two Jays fielders, before both runners scored when Volk's bloop single behind the right side of the infield pushed the Maccabees advantage to 7-4.

Volk loaded the bases with one down in the top of the third inning, but escaped further trouble when he picked up a strikeout and a pop up back to the mound.

Enter Feigenbaum, who loaded the bases with nobody out and allowed two runs to score in the top of the fourth inning. From there, he settled down, striking out the side to escape further damage and keep Yeshiva in front, 7-6. In all, including that three-strikeout swing, NYU-Poly finished the contest batting just 2-for-20 against the right-hander from the time it cut YU's lead to one.

The Maccabees picked up an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, when senior second baseman Elisha Rudolph (Lincolnwood, Ill.) reached on a one-out throwing error. He moved up 90 feet on Lautman's well-placed sacrifice bunt, and scored when Berger reached on a first-pitch-swinging throwing error in the Jays' infield to push the hosts' edge to 8-6.

Baez's side kicks off play in the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) portion of its schedule Sunday (Mar. 17), when it travels to the College of Staten Island for a 12 noon twinbill.