BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Junior pinch hitter Joey DiSarno ripped an RBI single to right center field to score senior outfielder Joseph Connell from second base to give No. 22 Moravian College its school-record 32nd win of the season in a 3-2 walk off victory over No. 6 Rowan University at Gillespie Field.
The match-up, the first-ever game at Gillespie Field between two nationally-ranked schools, saw the two top teams in the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Region possibly battling for the top seed in the region in next week's NCAA Tournament. Both the Greyhounds and the Profs finish the regular season at 32-10. Rowan won the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship for an automatic berth in the tournament while the Greyhounds will be looking for one of the 14 Pool C/at-large positions. The tournament field is slated to be announced at midnight on Sunday, May 11 on NCAA.com.
"The kids showed a lot of heart," stated Head Coach Paul Engelhardt. "It was a tight game that we may have not done one or two things properly. We could have done things a little bit better and made it a little easier on us. The guys didn't quit and pulled it out there in the ninth."
Moravian has now won four games this season against nationally-ranked teams including defeating both Rowan and Kean (N.J.) University when they were both ranked No. 6 in the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25 Poll. The victory was also the Hounds' sixth walk off win of the season and second against a nationally-ranked team as they defeated then No. 25 Adrian (Mich.) College, 9-8 in 10 innings, on March 3.
The scoring Friday came at both ends of the game. Rowan pushed its' only two runs of the game across the plate in the top of the first inning after a leadoff walk, Senior second baseman Mark Benak had an RBI single and junior designated hitter Casey Grimes added an RBI fielder's choice. Moravian starter senior Rob Solano settled down and would get out of the inning with no more runs.
The Greyhounds answered with a run bottom half of the first inning. Freshman left fielder Anthony Gaetaniello led off with an infield single, and he cut the Profs lead in half when he raced home from second on an RBI single by junior right fielder Matt Hanson.
Rowan had a leadoff double in the second but the Hounds turned a double play to get out the inning.
Moravian put Gaetaniello in scoring position in the third inning when he led off with another single but he would be stranded at third base.
The Profs would get a runner to second in the fifth inning and two more runners on base in the sixth but were unable to score. Benak led off the eighth with a double for Rowan but Moravian closer senior Chris Soltys retired the next six batters he faced to give the Greyhounds a chance.
Sophomore first baseman Charles Savite led off the top of the ninth with a single to third base that nearly rolled down the left field line. Junior third baseman Ryan Luke sacrificed Savite to second base before Connell hit a single through the left side to put runners on the corners. DiSarno came on to pinch hit and squared to put down a safety squeeze bunt on the first pitch but instead a passed ball allowed Savite to score and Connell to reach second. DiSarno then ripped the next pitch into right center field for the winning hit as Connell raced home from second base.
"We took advantage of a passed ball but we also had two good hits and a sacrifice bunt before Joey DiSarno's big hit to win it," Endgelhardt said of the ninth inning.
DiSarno's hit gave the Greyhounds a 9-5 edge in hits in the game with Gaetaniello going 2-for-4. Benak was 2-for-4 for the Profs.
"The day has to belong to Joey D," Engelhardt commented on his junior. "To come in there knowing that he was being asked to do something and then the situation changed after one pitch, he did a great job. It went from a small ball play that we were going to run to a runner on second and let it rip. He loaded and let it rip. I know it goes down as a single but that was double to the fence."
Moravian wanted to keep its pitching staff game-ready for the possible trip to NCAA Tournament so the Greyhounds used one of their pie chart games with five hurlers heading to the mound. Solano tossed the first two innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out one batter. Senior Thomas Mariano pitched one inning, retiring all three batters he faced while freshman Nicolas Ampietro tossed two innings with a hit and four strikeouts including striking out the side in the fourth inning. Sophomore Ian Carbone pitched two innings while Soltys improved to 6-1 with his sixth win in relief that included a hit and a pair of strikeouts.
"Ampietro just keeps getting better and better as a freshman," Engelhardt explained. "Rowan had a gun on him and said he was throwing 87-90 as a freshman, and I think that is why his numbers keep getting better and better. I think Carbone has been in total control all year, and Chris went in and did a great job after that leadoff double in the eighth. I really don't have a complaint on any of their performances."
Rowan started their ace junior Ryan Easterday, and he allowed a run on four hits to go with two strikeouts in four innings of action while junior Dylan Johannink tossed 1.1 innings with a hit and two strikeouts before leaving with an injury in the bottom of the sixth inning. Freshman Brad Marchinski tossed the final three innings for the Profs, allowing two runs on four hits.
The Greyhounds are looking for their second straight NCAA Tournament berth and the third in five years but 2014 would be the first as an at-large selection as the other two have come as automatic berths after winning the Landmark Conference Tournament.
