SCRANTON, Pa. --- The second seeded Moravian College baseball team fell to top seed Susquehanna University, 8-5, in the championship round of the 2019 Landmark Conference Tournament Sunday played in a steady rain at the turf Volpe Field on Quinn Campus of The University of Scranton.
The Greyhounds, who finish the season with a 22-21-1 mark, had 10 hits on the day with junior right fielder Carmine Palummo and freshman shortstop Michael Miceli both going 2-for-4. Senior left fielder Mike Mittl was 2-for-5 while and junior second baseman Ian Csencsits went 2-for-6.
Senior Brendon Caraway made the start on the mound and tossed three-plus innings. Senior Tyler Caraway pitched three innings in relief with three strikeouts while freshman Scott Poulson tossed two innings with one strikeout.
The Hounds jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Palummo led off the game with a single to center field, and Csencsits followed with a single to right field. Senior designated hitter Evan Kulig drew a walk to load the bases before senior center fielder Austin Markowski connected on an RBI sacrifice fly to left field as Palummo raced home. Mittl followed with an RBI single to center field as Csencsits came across the plate as Mittl became the eighth player in school history to reach 100 career RBIs, joing teammates Markowski and Kulig.
Markowski connected on a single in the top of the third inning before being stranded at third base.
The River Hawks got on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the third with three runs to move ahead, 3-2, and Susquehanna added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-2 lead.
Moravian answered in the top of the fifth with three runs to cut the deficit to 7-5. Markowski reached on a fielder's choice while senior third baseman Tim Heard and freshman first baseman AJ Brosious drew walks to load the bases. Senior catcher Chase Rogers lifted a fly ball to right field that was dropped allowing Markowski and Heard to score. Miceli followed with an RBI single through the left side to bring Brosious across the plate. Palummo hit an infield single to load the bases for the second time in the inning but the Hounds would leave them all stranded.
The Greyhounds loaded the bases again in the top of the seventh when senior catcher Andrew Koenig was hit by a pitch, Miceli singled and Csencsits reached on an error, but the Blue and Grey left the bases full again to give Moravian 13 runners left on base through seven frames.
Susquehanna would stretch its advantage to 8-5 in the bottom of the seventh with one run.
In the top of the eight, Markowski drew a walk and Mittl hit a single to put two more runners in scoring position for the Hounds; however, they would be stranded there. Moravian also left a runner on in the ninth for 16 runners left on base in the game.
