PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. --- The Moravian College baseball team split a pair of games at the Snowbird Classic at North Charlotte Regional Park in Port Charlotte, Florida on Tuesday as the Greyhounds fell to No. 21 Misericorida University, 2-1, in the first game of the day before rallying to force extra inning and then defeat Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) University, 4-2 in 11 innings.
The Hounds had five hits in the game versus Misericordia with junior second baseman Ian Csencsits going 2-for-4.
Freshman Eddie Olsen made his first career start on the mound and allowed two runs on six hits and two walks to go with a pair of strikeouts in six innings of action. Junior Connor Morro tossed the other three innings and recorded five strikeouts and allowed just one hit.
The Cougars scored single runs in the second and fourth innings to build a 2-0 lead.
The Greyhounds cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the sixth frame when senior designated hitter Evan Kulig was hit by a pitch, moved to third on a single by senior third baseman Tim Heard and scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman first baseman AJ Brosious.
The Blue and Grey had 14 hits versus Baldwin Wallace as Csencsits and freshman third baseman David Bertolotti each went 3-for-5 with Bertolotti adding an RBI. Sophomore shortstop Michael Miceli was 2-for-4 with a run and a double while Kulig and senior left fielder Mike Mittl were both 2-for-5 with Kulig crossing the plate twice.
Moravian senior Brendon Caraway tossed eight innings, allowing just one run that was unearned on two hits and a walk to go with four strikeouts. Morro returned to the mound and tossed two more innings with an unearned run, two hits, a walk and two strikeouts, and he induced a bases loaded double play in the bottom of the ninth to help force extra innings. Sophomore Rodney Berger pitched the final inning with one strikeout as he earned his first career save while Morro picked up his first win of the season.
The Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Hounds responded to knot the score at 1-1 in the top of the seventh frame. Miceli led off with a double and would race home on an RBI sacrifice fly by Junior right fielder Carmine Palummo for the second out of the inning.
With the game heading to extra innings, Moravian moved ahead in the top of the tenth inning. Kulig singled with one out and eventually crossed the plate on a two-out RBI single by Bertolotti.
Baldwin-Wallace answered in the bottom of the 10th inning with an unearned run to force the contest into another inning.
The Greyhounds pulled back in front with a pair of runs in the top of the 11th frame. Palummo drew a one-out walk and would eventually score the winning run on a wild pitch with two outs. The Blue and Grey tacked on an insurance run when Kulig scored on a ball hit by Brosious.
Moravian is slated to return action on Wednesday, March 6 with a game versus Heidelberg (Ohio) University at North Charlotte Regional Park in the Snowbird Classic beginning at 11:00 a.m.
