WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The third seeded Moravian College baseball team captured its second Landmark Conference Championship in four seasons and an automatic berth to the 2013 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament with an 8-5 victory over fourth seed The University of Scranton in the 2013 Landmark Conference Tournament hosted by The Catholic University of America Monday.
The conference title is the fourth in Moravian's history to go with Middle Atlantic Conference titles in 1960 and 1990 and the Landmark Conference championship in 2010. This will be the program's second trip to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.
In the six-year history of the Landmark, Moravian's 2010 title is the only time the top seed has won the tournament. The three seed has won three times including the Greyhounds in 2013 and the fourth seed has won twice.
Scranton jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a two-out RBI single by senior shortstop Tim LeCompte that scored sophomore first baseman Ross Danzig.
The Greyhounds, who have won six straight games, answered back with two runs in the bottom half of the first to take a 2-1 lead. Sophomore shortstop Colin Case singled with one out, and sophomore outfielder Matt Hanson followed with a walk. After a ground out by freshman first baseman Charles Savite, junior outfielder Joseph Connell connected on a two-RBI double down the left field line to score Case and Hanson. It was Connell's fourth RBI double of the tournament.
Moravian tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second to make the lead 4-1 but the Greyhounds also left the bases loaded in the inning. Freshman catcher Mike Roethke hit a one-out single before freshman second baseman Alex Bull walked and freshman outfielder Jimmy McCarthy reached on an error to load the bases. Case drew an RBI walk to score Roethke, and then Hanson was hit by a pitch to score Bull.
The Royals scored a run in the top of the fifth to cut Moravian's advantage to 4-2 on an RBI single by senior catcher Michael Amaturo.
The Greyhounds would get the run right back in the bottom half of the fifth to make the lead 5-2. Sophomore designated hitter Justin Pilchman reached on an error to start the inning, and he scored on an RBI ground out by McCarthy.
Scranton tied the game at 5-5 with three runs in the top of the sixth inning. Danzig connected on a one-out, two-RBI double and then LeCompte hit an RBI single to score Danzig with the tying run.
Moravian retook the lead, 6-5, in the bottom of the sixth when Connell singled with two outs and scored on an RBI double by sophomore third baseman Ryan Luke.
The Greyhounds added a run to make their lead 7-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning. McCarthy singled with two outs and crossed the plate on an RBI single by Hanson.
Moravian scored another insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning to make the advantage three runs, 8-5. Connell started the inning with a single and scored on a one-out RBI pinch hit single from sophomore Joey DiSarno. Junior Harrison Fonteix came on to run for DiSarno and after an out, Bull was hit by a pitch before the Royals got out of the inning.
Scranton finished the game with a 13-12 edge in hits with LeCompte going three-for-four and Danzig going three-for-five. Connell led the Greyhounds at the plate with a four-for-five performance while Luke was two-for-four and Roethke was two-for-five.
Sophomore Chris Lansberry started on the mound for the Greyhounds and tossed five-plus innings with four runs on nine hits and two walks to go with two strikeouts. Junior Chris Soltys came on in the top of the sixth inning and improved to 4-1 on the season with a run on four hits and a walk to go with one strikeout in four innings of action.
Sophomore Luke Sheehan was Scranton's starter, and he tossed the first 1 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on three hits and three walks while striking out one batter. Sophomore Michael Villegas came on and pitched 4 2/3 innings with two runs, one earned, on five hits and a walk to go with two strikeouts, falling to 1-1 on the season. Junior Christopher Rom started the bottom of the seventh inning for Scranton and pitched 2/3 of an inning with a run on two hits and a walk before sophomore James Sawyer came in and pitched 1 1/3 innings with a run on two hits for the Royals.
Moravian will find out late on Sunday, May 12th who its opponent will be and the site for the 2013 NCAA Division III Regional Tournament.
