SCRANTON, Pa. --- The Moravian College baseball team fell to The University of Scranton, 8-5 in the opening game of a Landmark Conference series on the Royals' new turf field Saturday before the second game of the doubleheader was suspended until Sunday after one inning of play.
The Greyhounds, 18-17 overall and 9-7 in Landmark Conference action after the one completed game, had eight hits in the contest with sophomore right fielder Carmine Palummo going 3-for-4. Junior shortstop Matt Stalter was 2-for-3 while junior catcher Chase Rogers connected on a home run in the game.
Senior Nicholas Mazzella made the start on the mound for Moravian and allowed six runs, three earned, on eight hits and two walks to go with two strikeouts in four innings of action. Junior Brendon Caraway tossed the other two innings with two runs, one earned, on three hits to go with one strikeout.
The Blue and Grey jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when junior third baseman Evan Kulig reached on an error with two outs and scored on another error on a ball hit by junior center fielder Austin Markowski.
The Royals answered with four runs in the bottom half of the first frame and one in the third inning to build a 5-1 lead.
Moravian knotted the score with a four-run fourth inning. Junior left fielder Mike Mittl started the frame with a double before moving to third when senior designated hitter Joey Maker reach on an error. Rogers followed with a three-run homer, his second home run of the season. Stalter and Palummo connected on base hits to keep the inning going, and Stalter raced home on an RBI single by Kulig.
Scranton retook the lead with a run on the bottom of the fourth, and the Royals added two more runs in the sixth inning.
Game two began with Moravian scoring three runs in the top of the first inning; however, Scranton would score nine times in the bottom half of the inning including seven unearned runs before the game was suspended due to the weather.
The two squads will resume the game on Sunday, April 29 with the Greyhounds batting in the top of the second inning. 30 minutes following the conclusion of the contest, the Hounds and the Royals will start the final game of the series.
