LIU baseball champs finding pro jobs

Members of record-setting squad signing contracts

June 15, 2022 John Torenli, Sports Editor

LIU closer Joshua Gainer is among the handful of Sharks who signed to play professionally this summer in advance of the MLB Draft. Photo courtesy of LIU Athletics

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Fresh off an appearance in the NCAA Regionals, the Long Island University baseball team is looking for and finding work at the professional level, both here in the United States and abroad.

The school announced this week that both Ryan Mullahey and Luke Turner have inked deals with the Elmshorn Alligators of the German Bundesliga.

Also, Joshua Loeschorn and Nick DeSalvo signed to play in the Frontier League and Joshua Gainer joined the Pioneer League.

Turner recruited Mullahey after a former Marist student-athlete had to withdraw from playing with the team due to injury, according to the LIU athletic department.

Mullahey appeared in 11 games for LIU this past season, starting twice at first base for the Northeast Conference champions.

Loeschorn, who hopes to be selected during next month’s Major League Draft in Los Angeles, will play for the Frontier League’s New York Boulders.

He graduated summa cum laude with a 3.91 GPA and bachelor of science degree in computer science on May 10 before pitching the Sharks to their second NCAA Regional berth in four years.

Loeschorn was named Collegiate Baseball second-team All-American, NEC Pitcher of Year and First-Team All-NEC. The 6-foot-3 right-hander from Butler, N.J., went 11-3 with a 3.06 ERA and team-leading 104 strikeouts in 97 innings over 17 appearances, all but one of which were starts.

Sharks starter Joshua Loeschorn won 11 games for the Northeast Conference champs this year. Photo courtesy of LIU Athletics

His win total ranks second in a single season in program history, trailing only Sal Campisi’s 12 wins in 1964.

DeSalvo also stayed local, signing with the Frontier League’s New Jersey Jackals. Gainer signed with the Pioneer League’s Great Falls Voyagers.

A second-team All-NEC selection, the 6-foot-4 DeSalvo went 5-1 with a 3.67 ERA in 23 appearances this past season with 81 strikeouts, in 61 1/3 innings.

Gainer, the team’s closer, posted a team-high seven saves and went 2-3 with a 3.10 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings over 26 relief outings. Opponents hit just .212 against the sidewinding right-hander in 2022.

The Sharks won a program-record 37 games this past season, shattering the mark of 31 victories established by the 2018 squad.

“It’s been talked about within our program to keep getting on to the next level,” LIU coach Dan Pirillo said after the dream season ended in Maryland with a 10-4 loss to Wake Forest.

“This year we were able to show what we can do in the NEC. … [and] breaking the win record. It’s really huge for what we’re trying to do at LIU. The next step is to do a little bit more at the regional. It’s not easy. There are no easy regions. There are no easy teams. But I think that’s the next step to get where we want to go.”

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In other local college sports news, St. Francis Brooklyn head women’s soccer coach Justine Lombardi announced the signing of seven new players to a squad that went a program-best 5-8-6 this past season.

The SFC Brooklyn women’s soccer team signed seven new recruits to the team that set a program record for wins last year. Photo courtesy of SFC Brooklyn Athletics

Chloe Brock of Beaverton, Oregon, Angelina Briggs of Commerce, Michigan, Natalie Beasley of Dublin, Ohio, Olivia and Sophia Motolese of Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, Angelina Sayago of Seaford, N.Y., and Samantha Kipperman of Soutbury, Connecticut will be on the pitch in Brooklyn Bridge Park next season.

“I am excited to bring these seven to Brooklyn this fall,” said Lombardi. “They bring athleticism and versatility to a group that is prepared to build on our first spring offseason program and continue to make strides as a team!”

The Terriers went 0-17 in their inaugural 2019 campaign before winning two games in 2020.

They will begin the 2022 campaign in August.