BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College baseball team swept its 2016 Landmark Conference season opening doubleheader versus the Catholic University of America at Gillespie Field Saturday afternoon, winning the opener, 4-3, and taking the nightcap, 4-1.
"It was good to come out and get both wins today, which means we've already won the weekend," commented Head Coach Paul Engelhardt. "We're seeing some better things. We got two great pitching performances out of Rhett and Dan. We still need to clean up the defense a little bit but I like what I saw at the plate with our discipline and we competed with a very good team and we competed for the first weekend out here in conference play."
Moravian, which has won four straight and is now 8-6 overall and 2-0 in conference action, had 10 hits in the opener with senior first baseman Charles Savite going 3-for-3. Junior outfielder Anthony Gaetaniello was 2-for-3 while freshman outfielder Mike Mittl had a 2-for-4 game.
Sophomore Dan Morrin earned his first win of the season on the mound for the Hounds, allowing three runs on seven hits to go with seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings of action. Sophomore Nicholas Mazzella faced two batters before senior Hunter Guard came on to earn his second save of the season.
Moravian took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when senior catcher Mike Roethk reached on an error and scored on an RBI double by Savite. The Hounds added two runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend the lead to 3-0. Bull led off with a solo home run off the scoreboard in right field, his first homer of the season, and Roethke scored on ground out by freshman second baseman Tim Heard.
The Blue and Grey pushed the lead to 4-0 with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning when senior designated hitter Cameron Leon scored on an error. The Cardinals scored once in the top of the sixth and twice in the top of the seventh before Guard closed the door.
Moravian had eight hits in the second game with Gaetaniello going 2-for-2 and freshman shortstop Evan Kulig turning in a 2-for-3 game.
Freshman Rhett Jacoby went the distance on the mound for his second win of the season, allowing a run on six hits and no walks to go with eight strikeouts.
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the top of first inning. Moravian would take the lead in the bottom of the fourth with three runs. Kulig tied the game with an RBI single while Gaetaniello put the Greyhounds ahead for good with an RBI single on a squeeze bunt that scored Roethke. Mittl drove in the final run of the inning with an RBI single.
The Hounds finished off the scoring in the bottom of the fifth when Bull led off the inning with a solo homer to left field, his fifth career home run.
The Greyhounds are slated to close out their three-game Landmark Conference series with Catholic on Sunday, March 20 with first pitch slated for 12:00 p.m.
