PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. --- The Moravian College baseball team split a pair of games on its final day at the Snowboard Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida as the Greyhounds fell to No. 21 Misericordia University, 8-2, before defeating Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) University, 6-2, Friday at South County Park
The Greyhounds had nine hits in the first game versus Misericorida with senior third baseman Tim Heard going 2-for-3 and junior right fielder Carmine Palummo posting a 2-for-4 game.
Senior Evan Kulig made the start on the mound and allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits and three walks to go with six strikeouts in 6.1 innings of action. Senior Tyler Caraway tossed a third of an inning with one strikeout while sophomore Kyle Serman pitched a third of an inning. Freshman Kyle Petsch tossed the final inning for the Hounds.
Moravian jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Palummo led off the game with a single and scored on an RBI double to right center by sophomore second baseman Ian Csencsits.
The Blue and Grey added another run in the top of the second frame for a 2-0 edge. Senior left fielder Mike Mittl led off with a single and moved into scoring position on a single by Heard. Sophomore shortstop Michael Miceli connected on an RBI sacrifice fly to right field to bring Mittl across the plate.
Miscericordia scored single runs in the second and fifth innings to tie the game at 2-2, and then the Cougars score four times in the seventh and twice more in the eighth.
Moravian would add 11 hits against Baldwin-Wallace with Csencsits going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a pair of doubles. freshman third baseman David Bertolotti was also 2-for-3 while Kulig, playing as the designated hitter, was 2-for-5.
Senior Rhett Jacoby made the start on the mound, earning the victory as he allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits and a walk to go with five strikeouts in 5.1 innings of action. Sophomore Rodney Berger tossed the final 3.2 innings for his second save of the season, and he allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out one batter.
The Hounds took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning against the Yellow Jackets. Miceli led off with a single and would move over to third base on a double down the left field line by Csencsits. Kulig would follow with an RBI infield single to bring Miceli home.
Baldwin-Wallace would tie the game in the top of the fourth inning but the Blue and Grey answered right back in the bottom of the fourth to go ahead again, 2-1. Mittl was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and he stole second base before scoring on an RBI single by sophomore first baseman Brett Moyer (Telford, Pa./Souderton HS), who had a pair of RBIs in the victory.
Once again, the Yellow Jackets tied the contest in the top of the fifth with a single run. Moravian took the lead right back in the bottom of the fifth as Moyer drew a two-out, bases loaded walk that scored Csencsits for the 3-2 lead.
The Blue and Grey added two runs in the bottom of the seventh frame to push the edge to 5-2. Senior center fielder Austin Markowski reached on an error to start the inning, and he would race home from second base when Mittl reached on another error. Junior catcher Ian Luberti would drive in the other run as he connected on a sacrifice fly to score Bertolotti, who had singled earlier in the inning.
Moravian added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning to make it a 6-2 game when Csencsits was hit by a pitch with one out and scored on an RBI single by Markowski.
The Hounds are slated to begin their 2019 home season on Wednesday, March 13 when the squad welcomes Rutgers-Camden to Gillespie Field for a non-conference game beginning at 3:30 p.m.
