BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College baseball team scored 12 runs over the first four innings to post a 13-2 win over visiting Elizabethtown College to begin a Landmark Conference series at Gillespie Field Saturday afternoon.
The Greyhounds, now 7-7 overall and 3-1 in conference action, had 13 hits in the win led by seniors catcher Chase Rogers and third baseman Tim Heard, who were both 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Rogers added a double and a pair of runs while junior right fielder Carmine Palummo was 2-for-4 with two runs. Senior left fielder Mike Mittl and sophomore designated hitter Brett Moyer each had two-RBI doubles while seniors first baseman Evan Kulig and center fielder Austin Markowski and junior second baseman Ian Csencsits each scored twice with Markowski's first run making him the 12th player in school history to reach 100 career runs scored.
Senior Brendon Caraway improved to 2-1 on the mound as he allowed three hits and six walks to go with four strikeouts in seven innings. Sophomore Kyle Serman tossed the final two innings with four hits, two runs, a walk and a strikeout.
The Greyhounds jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Csencsits reached on a fielder's choice with two outs before Kulig singles and Markowski walked to load the bases. Mittl came up and ripped a two-RBI double to left field as Csencsits and Kulig raced home.
The Blue and Grey doubled the lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the second. Rogers led off with an infield single and scored on an RBI single by Palummo. Heard followed with an RBI single as Palummo raced home.
The Hounds added two more runs in the third for a 6-0 edge. Kulig reached on an error and Markowski walked before a two-RBI double to center field by Moyer.
Moravian doubled its lead for the second time in the game with a six-run fourth inning to push the lead to 12-0. Csencsits started things off by reaching on an error, and Markowski connected on a one-out single. After the second out of the inning, Moyer was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Rogers would clear the bases with a three-RBI double to center field on a full count, and Rogers raced home on an RBI single by sophomore shortstop Michael Miceli. Palummo reached on an infield single before Heard connected on an two-RBI single up the middle to finish off the inning.
The Blue Jays would get onto the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth inning.
The Greyhounds answered in the bottom of the eighth with the final run of the game. Freshman first baseman AJ Brosious led off with a double and scored on an infield single by sophomore pinch hitter Thomas Philipps.
The two squads are set to return to Gillespie Field on Sunday, March 24 for the doubleheader of the Landmark Conference series with the seven-inning game set for a 12:00 p.m. first pitch and the nine-inning contest to follow 30 minutes after the first game concludes.
