ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Eli Branzburg rapped out
five hits and added three runs scored and two RBIs to lead
Muhlenberg to a pair of late-inning victories over McDaniel in
Centennial Conference (CC) baseball action on Sunday.
The Mules (13-20-1, 7-9 CC) plated six runs in the bottom of the
sixth inning of game one to turn a 9-4 deficit into a 10-9 victory
before completing the sweep with two runs in the bottom of the
eighth of game two to break a 7-all deadlock for a 9-7 win.
With the two losses, the Green Terror (14-12, 7-8 CC), who entered
play on Saturday one game out of first place, is now within one
loss or one Johns Hopkins win of being eliminated from the
conference tournament. Franklin & Marshall, Ursinus and
Haverford locked up bids on Sunday, leaving the fourth and final
spot for either Johns Hopkins or McDaniel. The two teams each play
their season-ending doubleheader on Saturday but also still have to
meet in Baltimore for the conclusion of their home-and-home
series.
Russell Coover (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Blue
Mountain) led the Green Terror with five hits, two runs
scored and two RBIs.
With the nightcap tied at 7-all, John Kalis
reached on an error to leadoff the home eighth.
One out later, Christian Conti and Chris
Costa put together-back-to-back singles to give the hosts
a one-run lead.
Bobby Spindler added an RBI groundout to set the
final margin.
After the Mules scored one run in each of the first two innings,
Sergio Nieto (Mameroneck, N.Y./Rye Neck) drew a
bases-loaded walk in the top of the fourth to cut the deficit in
half.
However, an Eric Pomroy two-run single in the
bottom of the inning keyed a four-run frame that gave the hosts a
6-1 lead.
Singles from Branzburg and Pomroy an inning later stretched the
lead to 7-1 before McDaniel got two back in the sixth and tied the
game on a Coover two-run single up the middle in visitor
seventh.
Five singles coupled with a pair of errors staked the Green Terror
to a 5-0 lead in the top of the second inning of the
opener.
A Justin Reitz (Halifax, Pa./Halifax) sacrifice
fly scored Zach Croft (Laurel, Md./DeMatha) in the
fourth, pushing the lead to 6-0 before a one-out error in the
bottom of the frame led to four unearned runs that closed the
Muhlenberg deficit to 6-4.
Branzburg had the big hit of the inning with a two-run
single.
A Nieto home run pushed the lead back to three a half-inning later
and the visitors used three singles after a one-out error in the
top of the sixth to stretch the lead to 9-4.
A leadoff double from Conti and one-out singles from Bobby
Spindler and Branzburg started the Mule rally in the
bottom of the inning.
Eric Hamond drew a walk to chase starter
Ryan Graves (Cordova, Md./St. Michaels). Reliever
Brian Rosato (Narvon, Pa./Pequea Valley) allowed a
sacrifice fly to Dan Fisher – the first
batter he faced.
Pomroy followed with a single that, coupled with an error, cleared
the bases and pulled the hosts within 9-8.
A wild pitch knotted the game at 9-all before an Edward
Risener home run proved to be game winner after the Mules
got a game-ending double play in the top of the
seventh.
McDaniel finished with 23 hits in the two games, including 13 in
the opener but left 15 runners on base. Harold Baines, Jr.
(St. Michaels, Md./St. Michaels) had four hits while
Troy Tipton (Hanover, Pa./South Western) added
three.
The Green Terror returns to action at home against Penn
State-Harrisburg on Monday. Game time is 3:30 p.m.
Score by Inning – Game
One
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 -
R H
E
McDaniel (14-11, 7-7
CC)
0 5
0 1
1 2
0 -
9 13 3
Muhlenberg (12-20-1, 6-9
CC)
0 0
0 4
0 6
x -
10 11 4
Score by Inning – Game
Two
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 -
R H
E
McDaniel (14-12, 7-8
CC)
0 0
0 1
0 2
4 0
0 -
7 10 2
Muhlenberg (13-20-1, 7-9
CC)
1 1
0 4
1 0
0 2
x -
9 15 3
Chase Wolf,
Mike Freeman and
Justin Reitz; Brent Morris, Mike
Speroni (7), Mike Misciagna (7) and Eli Branzburg. WP: Misciagna
(1-1). LP: Freeman (0-2). S: none. SO-BB: Wolf 2-3, Freeman 1-2;
Morris 2-0, Speroni 0-1, Misciagna 0-0. 2B:
Jon Zimmerman
(Mc).
-30-
