HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. – Sophomore pitcher Thomas Mariano led Moravian (2-1) to a win, 7-1, over Franklin & Marshall College (1-1) in the final day of the Floyd B. Wilcox Memorial Tournament. Mariano picked up the win while pitching a complete game to go with his five strike outs, and only giving up one run.
Mariano would get the start for Moravian, and sit down the Diplomats in order in the top half of the first inning. Junior pitcher Brendan DeMond would respond with a 1-2-3 bottom of the first for F&M.
Freshman outfielder Brian Erb would get the first hit in the game for the Diplomats in the third inning. Sophomore second baseman Dave Seitzinger would get the first hit for the Greyhounds with a single to the bottom of the fourth, but was unable to get around the bases as the contest would remain tied at zero after four innings.
Mariano would have a little bit of trouble in the sixth by having runners on first and third. He managed to get the final out with the shutout still intact. The Diplomats would then get two base runners in the top of the seventh, but Mariano would escape the inning unscathed after striking out Erb.
The Greyhounds would start the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back singles by senior shortstop Dave Zubia and classmate first baseman Kevin O'Keefe. Both would move up a base to third and second after a sacrifice bunt from senior third baseman Gregg Steinman. Zubia and O'Keefe would both score after a fielder error by F&M while senior designated hitter Austin Rock reached base on the error. Sophomore outfielder Harrison Fonteix would add a third run after singling to drive home Rock. Moravian would end the seventh with a 3-0 lead.
The Diplomats would start the eighth with back-to-back singles from junior shortstop Alex Vescera and classmate second baseman Aaron Gillette. Mariano would get the next batter to pop up, and then force a double play to get out of the inning.
Seitzinger would start the bottom of the eighth with a lead-off double. He would then advance to third on a passed ball. O'Keefe then hit an RBI single to push Moravian's lead to 4-0. Steinman followed that up with another single, and then Rock hit an RBI double to drive home O'Keefe. Senior catcher Blake Shortall then hit a two RBI double to put the Greyhounds up 7-0 after eight innings.
Senior outfielder Connor Devlin started the top of the ninth off for F&M with a double. Classmate outfielder Andrew Conlan drove him home with an RBI single for the Diplomats first run of the day. That would be all F&M had as the Greyhounds would win 7-1.
Shortall went 1-for-3 with two RBIs while Rock went 1-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Seitzinger scored one run and doubled while going 2-for-4. O'Keefe went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI while Fonteix had one RBI.
DeMond picked up the loss for F&M while going seven innings, striking out five and only giving up one earned run. Conlan led the Diplomats with one RBI and going 3-for-4 while Gillette went 2-for-4.
Moravian returns to action on Tuesday, February 28th as they travel to nationally-ranked #3 Kean University for a non-conference game. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
