Men’s tennis wins CUNYAC championship, other news

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John Neves | Baruch Athletics

Dani Heba, Sports Editor

The Baruch College Bearcats did not have a particularly busy week in terms of schedule load, as men’s tennis and softball played one game per week and baseball played two games.

However the men’s tennis team’s was an exciting one, as they won the CUNY Athletic Conference championship.

Men’s tennis

For the fifth year in a row, the men’s tennis team sits atop the CUNYAC, defeating the Hunter College Hawks 5-0 in the USTA National Tennis Center on April 27.

The men won all three doubles matches, including an 8-0 sweep by Christopher Tham and Nicholas Santiago in the No. 1 doubles match.

Tham swept the No. 1 singles match, 6-0 in both sets, to earn the Bearcats their fourth win. Nicholas Santiago swept the No. 4 singles match in identical fashion to clinch the Bearcats’ fifth win and the sweep of Hunter.

Since the 2017 season, the Bearcats have come out on top of the CUNYAC. The 2020 and 2021 seasons were cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions; however, the men started off with a 4-1 record in 2020.

The results of the CUNYAC Finals were not surprising. Prior to the season’s start, CUNYAC head coaches voted the Bearcats as the favorite to win it all and Tham as the favorite to win player of the year.

Both of these predictions came true, as Tham won Player of the Year on April 26 and the Bearcats won the championship the next day. Tham was also named Finals MVP.

Tham, Juan Paredes and Jim Bauer were named to the CUNYAC Men’s Tennis First Team. Santiago was named to the Second Team. Bauer was also named to the Sportsmanship Team.

Men’s tennis wraps up its season undefeated in the CUNYAC and with a stunning 14-4 overall. The team now advances to the NCAA Division III tournament to play Farmingdale on May 5

Softball

The softball team played a doubleheader against the Brooklyn College Bulldogs on April 27, winning both halves of the matchup.

The first half of the doubleheader saw the Bearcats jump out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Bearcats were able to keep the Bulldogs scoreless until the bottom of the sixth, where they scored one run in a desperation effort.

Carly Quint pitched every inning allowing just four hits and one run while posting only one error. She also notched five strikeouts.

The second half was even more dominant for the Bearcats, as they swept the Bulldogs 8-0.

The team scored one run in the first inning and one in the third, but scored six runs in the sixth inning to put the game away.

Caroline Gallagher pitched all six innings, allowing just five hits. She also posted zero errors and zero walks while notching four strikeouts.

The Bearcats take on Rutgers-Newark University and the John Jay College Bulldogs this coming week, their last matchups before the CUNYAC playoffs.

Baseball

The baseball team played a doubleheader against John Jay College on April 28, winning both halves of the matchup.

The first half saw the bearcats jump out to a 2-0 lead. The Bearcats would tack on another two in the fifth inning and one in the sixth to seal the deal, 5-3.

Nathaniel Demchak pitched the first six innings, allowing three hits and three runs but notching 10 strikeouts. Joseph Bello closed the game out for the Bearcats, posting two strikeouts and allowing zero hits and zero runs.

The second half of the doubleheader saw an even wider margin of victory for the Bearcats, with the team winning 9-3.

It was a scoreless game for both teams until the bottom of the fifth, when the Bearcats exploded for five runs. The Bulldogs responded with three of their own in the top of the sixth, but the Bearcats came back with four more of their own in the bottom of the sixth to put it away.

Jeremy Ramirez pitched the first six innings, notching six strikeouts and allowing four hits and three runs. Brian Baek closed out the game, notching one strikeout and allowing one hit.

The team will play Lehman College on May 5 in a doubleheader for Bearcats Appreciation Day, its last game before the CUNYAC playoffs.