BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Junior shortstop Colin Case and sophomore first baseman Charles Savite reached the 100-hit milestones for their careers as the No. 21 ranked Moravian College baseball team swept its final non-conference doubleheader of the season Sunday at Gillespie Field, defeating New Jersey City University, 17-0 and 9-2.
The Greyhounds, ranked 21st in both the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25 and the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Top 30, improved to 29-8 overall, the second-most wins in school history and just two victories shy of the record of 31 set by the 2011 squad.
"We were good swinging the sticks today but what really matters now is preparing for the conference tournament," stated Head Coach Paul Engelhardt. "It was nice to finish off the week on an offensive note."
Case and Savite become the 27th and 28th players in school history, and they also give the Greyhounds a total of six 100-hit members on the current squad. Case reached the milestone with a single in the third inning of the first game while Savite hit the milestone on an RBI single in the sixth of the second contest to become just the second sophomore in school history to reach 100 career hits.
"We like to be an offensive team, and it was nice for Colin and Charles to get the milestone before the conference tournament and here at home," Engelhardt commented on the milestones. "With six guys in the lineup with 100 hits, it says we've been pretty good offensively for the past few seasons."
In the opener, Moravian scored in the first inning for the ninth consecutive game and the 21st time this season that the Greyhounds have plated a run in the opening frame. The Hounds scored five times in the first on the Gothic Knights and never looked back. After freshman left fielder Anthony Gaetaniello walked and Case had a single, junior right fielder Matt Hanson hit an RBI ground out. Senior center fielder Joseph Connell had a two-RBI single, and the Hounds added runs on an error and an RBI single from senior second baseman Daniel Seitzinger.
Moravian added a pair of runs in the second inning on a wild pitch and an RBI triple from junior third baseman Ryan Luke to make the lead 7-0.
The Greyhounds sent 10 batters to the plate in the third inning for the second time in the game and make the lead 12-0 with five more runs. Hanson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded before a wild pitch scored a run. Savite added an RBI ground out while Luke connected on an RBI single. Junior designated hitter Chris Lansberry finished off the scoring with an RBI double down the right field line.
Moravian continued to score in the fourth with two runs on an RBI triple from Case and an RBI ground out by freshman outfielder Cedar McCredie, and the Greyhounds added a run in the home half of the fifth on an error.
The Hounds finished off the scoring in the opening contest with a pair of runs in the sixth inning on an RBI single from sophomore outfielder Cameron Leon and a ground out by freshman infielder Mike Allegretta.
Moravian had a 17-4 advantage in hits in the opener with Case and Lansberry each going 3-for4. Seitzinger was 2-for-2 in the game while Luke was 2-for-3.
The Hounds used four pitchers by design in the opener with senior Robert Solano staying undefeated at 5-0 on the year as he allowed just one walk while striking out five batters in four innings of action. Senior Jason Jamula had a hit, a walk and a strikeout in one inning while senior Ben Hammel added a hit and a strikeout in an inning of action. Sophomore Anthony Zaloga pitched the final inning with two hits and a strikeout.
The Gothic Knights struck for the first run in the second game with a tally in the top of the second frame.
The Greyhounds answered in the bottom of the second with a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead. Junior second baseman Alex Longernecker got the scoring started with an RBI triple, and he scored on an RBI single by Case.
NJCU tied the game with a run in the top of the third on a solo home run by Alex Weinstein.
Moravian took the lead right back in the bottom of the third on an RBI triple by Luke off the top of the fence in left center field for a 3-2 edge.
The Greyhounds made the lead 5-2 with two runs in the fifth inning on an RBI single from Savite and an RBI double off of Connell's bat.
Moravian finished off the scoring with four runs in the sixth for the 9-2 win. Savite started the scoring with his milestone hit while Connell connected on a two-RBI single. Seitzinger drove in the final run of the game on an RBI fielder's choice.
The Hounds had a 13-6 edge in hits in the second contest with Savite going 3-for-4. Case and senior catcher Matthew Gutkes were both 2-for-3 while Connell was 2-for-4.
Moravian used a set pitching rotation for the second straight game. Freshman Nicolas Ampietro tossed the first two innings with an unearned run on two hits and a walk to go with two strikeouts. Senior Thomas Mariano improved to 4-3 on the year with a run on two hits and a pair of strikeouts in two innings while sophomore Hunter Guard struck out two batters in gave up one hits in an inning. Sophomore Ian Carbone tossed an inning with a hit while senior Chris Soltys pitched the final inning with a pair of strikeouts.
"With finals going on this week and no more games, we just wanted to give guys to get at least an inning of live action to prepare for the conference tournament," Engelhardt said of his pitching rotations in each contest.
The Greyhounds will return to action on Saturday, May 3 when they host the 2014 Landmark Conference Tournament as the top seed. Moravian will play fourth seed The United States Merchant Marine Academy in the tournament's opening game at 11:00 a.m. next Saturday at Gillespie Field.
