PUNTA GORDA, Fla. --- The Moravian College baseball team dropped a doubleheader to Heidelberg (Ohio) University, 4-3 and 7-5, Monday to begin the Greyhounds' trip to the Snowbird Classic in Punta Gorda, Florida.
The Hounds, now 2-4 on the season, had eight hits in the opener with senior center fielder Anthony Gaetaniello going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks as he moved into 10th in school history with 155 career hits.
Sophomore Rhett Jacoby started on the mound in game one and tossed the first six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks to go with one strikeout. Junior Ryan Kahn tossed two innings with a hit, two walks and a strikeout while senior Ian Carbone suffered the loss after coming on to pitch the nine inning, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks to go with a pair of strikeouts.
Moravian jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an RBI single by junior designated hitter Joey Maker that scored Gaetaniello. The Greyhounds pushed a run home in the fourth inning when sophomore second baseman Tim Heard connected on an RBI single to score Maker.
The Hounds extended the lead to 3-0 in the top of the fifth inning when sophomore right fielder Mike Mittl hit an RBI ground out to plate sophomore shortstop Matt Stalter, who had led off with single.
Heidelberg pushed two runs across the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning, and then scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the ninth for the victory.
Moravian had seven hits in game two of the doubleheader with freshman second baseman Ian Csencsits going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Maker added two RBIs in the game to go with a triple and sophomore designated hitter Logan Welles also had a triple.
Junior Dan Morrin got the start on mound in game two and allowed three runs on four hits and four walks to go with three strikeouts in four innings of work. Junior Nicholas Mazzella tossed two innings and allowed a pair of runs on four hits while striking out two batters. Junior Clay Weidemoyer pitched one inning with a walk while junior Adam Howard suffered the loss with two runs on four hits and a walk to go with one strikeout in two-thirds of an inning. Junior Bryan Schoch tossed the final 1.1 innings with a hit, two walks and two strikeouts.
Heidelberg scored once in the third and twice in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead in the second game.
Moravian would get on the scoreboard with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Csencsits drew a walk with one out and Mittl followed with a single before Maker connected on a two-RBI triple down the right field line. The Greyhounds scored again in the bottom of the fifth inning to knot the score at 3-3 on an RBI single from Csencsits.
Heidelberg moved back in front, 5-3, with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth. The Hounds scored once in the sixth when Welles tripled with two outs and scored on an RBI single by junior third baseman David Wodzsiz, and Moravian tied the score again at 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Csencsits.
Heidelberg finished off the scoring with a two-run eighth inning.
Moravian is scheduled to return to action on Thursday, March 9 with a pair of games at the Snowbird Classic as the Greyhounds play Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) College at 10:30 a.m. and John Carroll (Ohio) University later in the day.
Photo courtesy of Heidelberg Sports Information
