SCRANTON, Pa. --- The second seeded Moravian College baseball team dropped a winner's bracket game to top seed Susquehanna University, 5-2, before defeating third seed The Catholic University of America, 3-1, in the final elimination game of the 2019 Landmark Conference Tournament at The University of Scranton on Saturday.
The Greyhounds, now 22-20-1 overall, will now face Susquehanna in the championship round on Sunday at Volpe Field in Scranton with Moravian needing two wins to clinch win the 2019 Landmark Conference title while Susquehanna needs to win just once to earn the title and an automatic berth to the 2019 NCAA Division III Tournament.
Moravian had eight hits in the winner's bracket game versus the River Hawks with senior center fielder Austin Markowski, senior left fielder Mike Mittl and senior third baseman Tim Heard each going 2-for-4.
Senior Evan Kulig made the start on the mound, recording three strikeouts in five-plus innings of action while junior Connor Morro struck out one batter in two innings. Freshman Scott Poulson tossed the final inning with one strikeout.
Susquehanna took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning.
The Greyhounds scored twice in the top of the sixth frame to take a 2-1 edge. Junior second baseman Ian Csencsits drew a one-out walk before Kulig and Markowski hit singles to load the bases. After the second out of the inning, Mittl laced a two-RBI single to right field as Csencsits and Kulig both scored.
The River Hawks answered in the bottom of the sixth with a run to knot the score at 2-2, and Susquehanna scored three times in the bottom of the seventh frame to take the lead for good.
In the final elimination game versus Catholic, the Hounds collected three hits. Senior catcher Chase Rogers, senior Steve Lazicki and Markowski each had one hit.
Freshman Eddie Olsen started on the mound for the Blue and Grey, improving to 4-4 on the year with his second complete game of the season that included a career-high eight strikeouts.
The Greyhounds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Junior right fielder Carmine Palummo drew a walk to lead off the game while Csencsits and Markowski each drew a base on balls to load the bases with Hounds. Heard then connected on a sacrifice fly to left field to score Palummo.
Moravian added two more runs in the bottom of the second without a hit to make it a 3-0 edge. Sophomore designated hitter Brett Moyer, Rogers and sophomore shortstop Michael Miceli each drew one-out walks to load the bases. After a fielder's choice had Moyer out at the plate, Csencsits was hit by a pitch to push Rogers across the plate. Miceli raced home on a wild pitch for the 3-0 lead.
Rogers had the Hounds' first hit of the night with a one-out triple in the fourth inning but was stranded at third base.
Catholic would get onto the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning to cut the Moravian edge to 3-1.
Lazicki had a pinch hit double down the right field line in the bottom of the sixth but would be left there.
