PUNTA GORDA, FL – The Moravian College baseball team fell behind early to Muskingum University, but they rallied back to win 6-4 in the Snowbird Classic. Freshman outfielder Matt Hanson led the Greyhounds by going 4-for-4 with one run scored.
Junior outfielder Darren Garrett would get on with a lead-off single to start the contest for the Muskies. Senior outfielder Alex Vaccaro would be hit by a pitch to put two men on with no outs in the first. Sophomore third baseman Zach Siemon followed that with a RBI single up the middle. Junior pitcher Frank Trautz would strike out the final batter of the inning while giving up one more run by way of the sacrifice fly as Muskingum took a 2-0 lead.
Junior outfielder Nick Raymond would start the top of the second with lead-off single to left field for the Muskies. After Raymond stole second, he would advance to third on a ground out to the shortstop. Sophomore second baseman Will Simpson then drove him in with a single through the left side. The Muskies would add one more run while taking a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the second.
Sophomore outfielder Harrison Fonteix would start the bottom of the third with a single through the right side. He would then steal second. Classmate outfielder Joseph Connell then hit single up the middle to put men on the corners with zero outs. Sophomore second baseman Daniel Seitzinger then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Fonteix while making the score 4-1, Muskingum after three innings.
Moravian would start the bottom of the fourth by loading the bases, but Muskies senior pitcher Todd Spadaro would get out of the jam without allowing any runs to cross the plate.
Muskingum would threaten in the top of the fifth with a man on third, but Connell would rob Raymond of a hit with a diving catch in centerfield to keep the score at 4-1 going into the bottom of the fifth.
The Greyhounds would load the bases in the top of the sixth with a single from Hanson, senior catcher Blake Shortall reaching on an error and Fonteix reaching on a bunt single. Freshman outfielder Justin Pilchman then hit a single through the left side to score Hanson. Seitzinger would then draw the walk to drive in Shortall. Spadaro would hit senior shortstop Dave Zubia, as Moravian would knot the game back at four. Spadaro would get the final two outs while stranding the runners on base as the game would be tied at four going into the seventh.
Pilchman would start the bottom of the eighth for the Greyhounds with an infield single. Seitzinger then got to second while moving Pilchman to third after a throwing error by the Muskies catcher. Zubia followed that up with a single up the middle to score Pilchman and Seitzinger as Moravian would take its first lead of the day at 6-4.
Senior pitcher Kyle Longernecker would take the 6-4 lead into the top of the ninth. He would strike out the final batter of the game to earn his first victory of the year.
Longernecker pitched 4.2 innings in relief to pick up the win while only allowing three hits and striking out two. Trautz went 4.1 innings while allowing four runs and striking out two.
Seitzinger knocked in two runs while going 1-for-3 while Zubia knocked in three RBIs. Fonteix went 2-for-4 with two runs scored while Pilchman went 2-for-2 with a run scored, and a RBI.
Spadaro went six innings while giving up three earned runs and striking out three. Junior pitcher Logan Addison picked up the loss while going two innings in relief and giving up two runs.
Garrett led the Muskies by going 3-for-5 with one run scored while Raymond went 3-for-4 with one run scored. Simpson went 2-for-3 with a RBI while Connor went 1-for-3 with a RBI.
Moravian returns to action tomorrow, March 9th as they take on Heidelberg University at 10 a.m. and Muskingum University at 1 p.m.
