PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – The Moravian College baseball team fell to Heidelberg University, 9-7, Sunday afternoon in the Snowbird Classic. The Greyhounds were led by junior outfielder Joseph Connell who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, two stolen bases, a triple and a run scored.
Junior pitcher Thomas Mariano would get the nod for Moravian in the first. Mariano allowed the first batter to reach on a single, but freshman catcher Mike Roethke threw him out trying to steal second. He then struck out the next batter, and got the last batter to fly out.
Sophomore shortstop Colin Case started the bottom of the first with a walk. Junior second baseman Daniel Seitzinger followed with a single to right field that moved Case to third. Sophomore outfielder Matt Hanson grounded out to first base to score Case for the 1-0 lead.
Sophomore third baseman Doug Miller started the top of the second with a single for the Student Princes. Junior outfielder Ben Blystone followed with a single to left field. Mariano then got two outs before hitting a batter to load the bases. Mariano then struck out the last batter to get out of the inning with the Greyhounds 1-0 lead.
Freshman designated hitter Alex Bull started the bottom of the second with a single through the right side hole. After a sacrifice bunt, Roethke drove him home with a double to left centerfield for the 2-0 lead.
Freshman outfielder T.J. Harkness and sophomore first baseman Eric Monroe started the top of the third with back-to-back singles. Sophomore designated hitter Alex Grove then hit a single to left center to score one run for Heidelberg. The Student Princes added a run to tie the game at two.
Sophomore third baseman Ryan Luke would reach by error in the bottom of the third. He then stole second, before a single up the middle by Connell scored Luke for the 3-2 lead.
Monroe started the top of the fifth with a single. Blystone then hit two-out single while junior outfielder Arneal Squibb added a double to left field to score one run and knot the contest at three. The Student Princes tacked on five more runs to take an 8-3 lead.
Hanson started the bottom of the fifth with a lead-off double to right center. Connell then drove him home with a triple to centerfield. Junior first baseman Kyle Spence would drive Connell home on a ground out to make the 8-5, Heidelberg.
After reaching by error to start the inning for Grove, Squibb would hit a single up the middle to increase Heidelberg's lead to 9-5 in the sixth.
Case would get on in the bottom of the sixth by way of the fielder's choice. He then moved to third after a ground, and Luke drove him home with a bunt down the third base line to make the score 9-6. Hanson then double to centerfield to drive Luke home from first to make the score 9-7.
Connell and Seitzinger singled in the bottom of the eighth for Moravian, but were unable to score as the Student Princes maintained their 9-7 lead going into the ninth.
Roethke single to center in the bottom of the ninth, but Heidelberg closed the door for the 9-7 victory.
Mariano took the loss after allowing five runs in 4.2 innings. Junior pitcher Ben Hammel pitched one scoreless inning with a strikeout for the Greyhounds while freshman pitcher Tommy Natale-Drown pitched two shutout innings for Moravian.
Hanson went 2-for-5 with two RBIs, two doubles and a run scored while Luke had one hit, one stolen base and two runs scored. Seitzinger went 3-for-5 while Case added two hits and two runs scored. Roethke went 3-for-5 on the day with a RBI, a stolen base and a double.
Senior pitcher Tyler Fruhwirth got the start for the Student Princes, he went four innings while giving up five runs. Classmate pitcher Teddy Lowe earned the victory after pitching two innings of relief while freshman Kyle Fluharty earned the save after three scoreless innings.
Junior second baseman Joe Staab led Heidelberg on the field after going 3-for-6 with two RBIs and a double. Monroe went 3-for-4 with two runs scored while Blystone went 3-for-5 with a run scored. Squibb added two RBIs for the Student Princes while Harkness had two hits, two RBIs and a run.
Moravian will take on John Carroll University on Monday, March 4th in Punta Gorda, Florida. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
