BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University baseball squad saw a two-run lead slip away in the ninth inning as the Hounds fell to visiting The University of Scranton, 9-7, Friday afternoon to begin a Landmark Conference series at Gillespie Field.

How It Happened

• The Greyhounds jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Freshman center fielder Luke Keitsock drew a leadoff walk before graduate student Cole Cherkas connected on a two-run homer to left center, his team-leading seventh home run of the season and the 15th of his career to move into a tie for third in program history
• The Royals answered with a run in the top of the second inning to cut the edge to 2-1
• The Blue & Grey got the run back in the bottom of the second frame as graduate student left fielder David Olsakowski singled with one out and crossed the plate on an RBI sacrifice fly by freshman third baseman Troy Rabosky to make it 3-1
• Scranton plated another run in the top of third to get within 3-2, and the Royals tied the score at 3-3 with a run in the fourth inning
• The Royals took their first lead of the game in the top of the fifth frame as Scranton scored twice for a 5-3 edge
• Moravian pulled within a run in the bottom of the fifth as Rabosky led off with a homer to center field, his seventh home run of the season, to make it 5-4
• The Greyhounds retook a 7-5 lead with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Rabosky reached on a fielder's choice while sophomore catcher Wyatt Harrar drew a walk. Sophomore first baseman Sean Superka followed with an RBI single to score Rabosky and knot the score. An error by Scranton on a ball thrown from the catcher to the pitcher that ended up in center field allowed Harrar and graduate student Connor Wengryn, who had come in to run for Harrar, to both score
• The Royals scored three times in the top of the ninth to retake an 8-7 advantage
• The Hounds loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth but were unable to get the tying run home before the game ended

Inside the Numbers

• Moravian had seven hits in the contest with Rabosky going 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBIs and a homer
• Harrar was 2-for-3 while Cherkas was 1-for-3 with a run, a homer and two RBIs
• Olsakowski had a hit and a run while Wengryn and Keitsock both scored once with Keitsock drawing four walks in five plate appearances
• Senior Matt Snyder made the start on the mound and had three strikeouts in four innings of action while sophomore Nick Leonard struck out two in four innings of work. Freshman Tyler Bonnelli faced two batters while sophomore Wes Griffith tossed an inning

Up Next for the Greyhounds

• Sunday, April 27 vs. The University of Scranton (DH), 12:00 p.m. – Senior Day
• Wednesday, April 30 at Cairn University, 3:00 p.m.