MOOSIC, Pa. --- The No. 21 ranked and top seed Moravian College baseball team was eliminated from the 2014 NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional with a 4-3 loss to fifth seed and host Misericordia University at PNC Field Thursday.
The Greyhounds complete the season with an overall record of 32-12, a school record for victories, after reaching the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season and the third time in five years. The Cougars advance to another elimination game on Friday against the loser of the winner's bracket game between second seed Rowan University and third seed Susquehanna University, the final game on Thursday's schedule.
"It is the greatest group of seniors that we've had, and we've had some good ones," stated Head Coach Paul Engelhardt of his 10 graduating seniors after the game. "Even though it is disappointing to go out like this, they beat a lot of really good teams this year and earned the right to be the number one seed. Unfortunately, baseball is that way where if you are not on top of the game, you can find ways to lose and we've done that the last two days. It is no reflection on their careers or their season, and they are to be commended for what they've done for Moravian baseball, but also Moravian athletics.
"They are absolutely great kids. It reflected on the field and we're going to miss them terribly," Engelhardt finished.
The Hounds had the first runner of the game as junior right fielder Matt Hanson connected on two-out double to the gap in right center field in the top of the first inning but he would be stranded there.
Moravian would get on the scoreboard with a run in the top of the third inning. Sophomore catcher Mike Roethke led off the frame with a double to left center field, and he moved to third on a balk. Sophomore second baseman Alex Bull followed with a fly ball to left field that was likely deep enough to score Roethke but the ball was dropped allowing him to score. The Hounds would end up with runners on the corners before the inning ended.
The Cougars answered in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 1-1. First baseman Joe Tagliarini led off with a walk and scored on a bases loaded RBI single through the right side by left fielder Nick Hair. Misericordia tried to take a lead on the play but Hanson threw out the second runner at the plate.
Senior center fielder Joseph Connell singled with one out in the top of the fourth for the Greyhounds to move into a tie for second in school history with 175 career hits; however, Connell was erased by a double play.
Moravian threatened to take the lead back in the top of the fifth when Roethke led off with an infield single but he was stranded at third base.
In the home half of the fifth, Misericordia scored on unearned run on a pair of errors by the Greyhounds and an RBI single by third baseman Chris Boroch to take a 2-1 lead.
The Hounds would put another runner on base in the top of the sixth when Hanson led off with a single to right field but he was left at second base.
The Cougars added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to extend the lead to 4-1 when catcher Al Reda and center fielder Jeremy DeCotiis were both hit by pitches with the bases loaded.
Moravian got one of the runs back in the top of the seventh to cut the Misericordia lead to 4-2. Roethke singled up the middle with one out for his third hit of the day, and he moved to third when Bull singled to center with an error in the outfield on the play. Freshman left fielder Anthony Gaetaniello connected on an RBI ground out to score Roethke. However, the Hounds left Bull at third base.
The Greyhounds pushed another run across the plate in the top of the eighth to pull within a run at 4-3. Hanson led off with an infield single for his third hit of the day and sophomore first baseman Charles Savite followed with a double off of the wall in right field to put two runners in scoring position. Senior third baseman Ryan Luke then connected on an RBI sacrifice fly to left center field to score Hanson. Moravian was unable to move Savite from second base with either of its next two batters.
Moravian had a 10-5 edge in hits with both Roethke and Hanson each going 3-for-4. Kyle Seawards led the Cougars at the plate with a 2-for-4 day at the plate.
Freshman Nicolas Ampietro took the loss on the mound for the Hounds to fall to 5-3 on the season, allowing four runs, just one of them earned, on four hits and three walks to go with two strikeouts in 5.2 innings of action. Sophomore Ian Carbone tossed the final 2.1 innings with a hit and a strikeout.
Cory Lee was the winner for Misericordia to improve to 6-2 after allowing three runs, two earned, on 10 hits to go with a strikeout in 7.2 innings. Cory Vogeli picked up his second save of the season while pitching the final 1.1 innings.
