BLOOMFIELD, NJ (March 1, 2011) - The baseball team picked up their first victory of the 2011 season Tuesday afternoon, as they rallied to top the Nyack College Warriors 6-5 in 10 innings.  The win moves Bloomfield to 1-5 overall. 

The Deacons fell behind early, as junior righty Brad Smith struggled early in his first start of the campaign.  Smith yielded a bases-clearing triple in the top of the first to put Bloomfield quickly behind 3-0, and surrendered a pair of runs in the second inning to move Nyack's lead to 5-0.  But the veteran would settle in, shutting down the Warriors over the next four innings to keep Bloomfield within striking distance.

Struggling to engineer a rally in the early going, the Deacons' offense put together a three-run fifth inning, capped an Alberto Ruiz RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-3.  Bloomfield would continue to chip away, the momentum shifting with a two-run bottom of the seventh to knot the score at five.  Rafael Medina pushed the first run across with an RBI groundout, and Mike Monaco grounded into a fielder's choice with the bases full to plate the tying run.

The Bloomfield bullpen proved to be the unsung heroes of the club's first victory, with Eric Kamp and Rafael Cruz posting four innings of scoreless work to keep the contest gridlocked.  The Warriors threatened to take the lead in the top of the ninth on a one-out single to center, but Anderson Minyetty preserved the tie with a perfect strike to home, gunning down Nyack shortstop TJ Briggs to keep the Deacons even in dramatic fashon.  

The contest would go to extra frames after a scoreless Bloomfield ninth, and after a scoreless Nyack tenth, David Nieves drew a one-out walk to start what would prove to be the winning rally.  A single by Mike Judd moved Nieves to scoring position, and an Emilio Fernandez single loaded the bases for Medina.  The Key Largo, FL native stroked the game-winning single through the left side of the infield for his third hit of the afternoon, completing the Bloomfield comeback and handing the Deacons their first win of 2011.

"I think it says a lot about the type of men we have on this team, the way they were able to rebound from a tough start to the day and come from behind and pick up the win," Bloomfield head coach Jeff Watson said.  "We started slowly this year, but hopefully this is the turning point for us.  We've got the first one out of the way, so hopefully we can start to get on a roll."

Medina finished the afternoon going 3-6 with a pair of RBIs, while Minyetty made his presence felt on offensive as well with a pair of hits in five at-bats.  Ruiz reached base four times, picking up two hits, two walks and an RBI.  Kamp turned in three scoreless innings in relief for Bloomfield, while Cruz pitched a scoreless tenth.

The Deacons return to action Wednesday, March 2 when they welcome The College of Saint Rose for a non-conference home contest.  First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 PM at West Side Park in Newark, NJ.