BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College baseball team swept Landmark Conference rival The Catholic University of America in a doubleheader Saturday. The Greyhounds won the first game 5-2 while taking the second contest, 16-1.
In game one, sophomore pitcher Thomas Mariano would get the start for Moravian. He would give up two hits in the top of the first, but he would force a pop up, then senior catcher Blake Shortall would catch the runner stealing third. Mariano would get the final batter out on a strikeout swinging.
Sophomore pitcher Andrew Carroll would get the nod for the Cardinals as he would get the first out easily. Sophomore second baseman Daniel Seitzinger and senior shortstop Dave Zubia would get back-to-back singles up the middle. Carroll then picked off Seitzinger for the second out of the inning. After a walk from senior first baseman Kevin O'Keefe, classmate designated hitter Austin Rock would hit a RBI single through the right side. The Greyhounds would hold a 1-0 lead after the first inning.
Catholic then loaded the bases with zero outs in the second off of singles from sophomore infielder Brendan Breslin and freshman first baseman Colin McCarthy while senior outfielder Dan Sullivan reached on an error. Freshman catcher Mike McFarland then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to knot the game at one. Mariano then forced a pop up while getting the final out on a strikeout.
Catholic would add an unearned run in the top of the third after a Moravian error to make the score 2-1, Cardinals.
Sophomore outfielder Joseph Connell started the bottom of the third with a lead-off walk. Seitzinger then hit a single to center as Connell advanced to third on the play. Seitzinger then stole second base. Connell would score after Zubia grounded out to the shortstop. Catholic would then make a pitching change to sophomore Kevin Farley. Farley then walked O'Keefe. Seitzinger would then score on a wild pitch to put Moravian up 3-2. Rock followed with a single to the pitcher. Senior third baseman Gregg Steinman drove in O'Keefe with a single through the left side to put the Greyhounds up 4-2 after three innings.
Catholic would get two runners on in the top of the fifth with one out, but Mariano would work out of danger with a strikeout and a ground out.
Shortall would lead off the top of the sixth with a deep double to right-center field. Farley would come back with a strikeout to get the first out of the inning for Catholic. He then forced a fly ball to right field for the second out. Seitzinger then put on the squeeze bunt to score Shortall for a 5-2 lead.
Mariano would get the first batter to ground out in the top of the seventh. Senior designated hitter Dave Gear and Breslin followed with back-to-back singles. Mariano came back to force a fly out to center for the second out. He then forced a ground out for the final out of the contest as the Greyhounds would win game one, 5-2.
Mariano pitched a complete game while only allowing one earned run and striking out four. Seitzinger led Moravian, going 3-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored while Zubia went 2-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored. Rock and Steinman both went 2-for-3 with one RBI while Shortall went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Carroll picked up the loss for the Cardinals in game one after going 2.1 innings while allowing three runs. Breslin led Catholic, going 3-for-4 with one run scored. Sophomore third baseman Marc Hanna went 2-for-4 with one run scored while junior second baseman Kory Smigocki went 2-for-3.
In game two, senior pitcher Brendan Close would get the nod for Moravian. Catholic would get one run off of two hits in the first for a quick 1-0 lead.
Sophomore pitcher Adam Schroth would get the start for the Cardinals. Seitzinger would reach base on a dropped third strike. He then stole second and advanced to third after the throw got away. Zubia followed with a RBI single to right field. Rock would hit a RBI double to right field, but get thrown out trying to advance to third base as the Greyhounds would go up 2-1 after one inning.
Matt Hanson would reach in the second on a fielder's choice. Shortall then reached on a error by the third baseman, as Hanson advanced to third with one out. Freshman outfielder Chris Lansberry followed with a single to left field as Hanson scored on the play. Seitzinger then ripped a two-out, two RBI double to center field to put Moravian up 5-1 after two innings.
Senior pitcher Justin D'Alessandro would come in for relief in the bottom of the third for the Cardinals. He would give up two singles in the inning, but wouldn't allow anyone to cross the plate to keep the score at 5-1, Moravian.
Close would allow a base runner in the top of the fourth, but he followed with back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the inning.
Connell and Zubia would get on in the fourth off a single and a walk, respectively. O'Keefe then hit a deep two RBI triple to right field to put the Greyhounds up 7-1 after four innings.
Steinman led off the fifth with a single up the middle. Hanson followed with a RBI double down the left field line. Shortall then hit an infield single to the third baseman to put men on the corners with two outs. Lansberry would reach on an error by the second baseman while driving in Hanson for a 9-1 advantage. Shortall would add one more run after scoring on a passed ball as the Greyhounds went up 10-1 after five innings.
Moravian would add six more runs in the sixth as they would go onto win 16-1.
Close pitched complete game while striking out ten and only allowing one run to earn his third victory of the spring. Steinman led the Greyhounds, going 4-for-4 with two runs scored while Hanson went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Lansberry added three RBIs and two runs while going 3-for-4. Connell went 2-for-5 with two runs while Seitzinger went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Zubia scored two runs while driving two runs in, and O'Keefe had two RBIs while going 1-for-3.
Schroth took the loss for Catholic, going two innings while giving up five runs. Grieb went 1-for-3 with a RBI while Little went 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Moravian returns to action tomorrow, March 18th as they play the final game of this three game series versus Catholic. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. at Gillispie Field.
