LANCASTER, Pa. – The McDaniel College baseball team won both games of a road conference doubleheader with Franklin & Marshall on Saturday.

The Green Terror (22-10, 5-5) have now won five of the last six meetings with the Diplomats (17-12, 4-6) dating back to April 6^th, 2024.

McDaniel jumped out to an 11-1 lead in the opener before holding off a late rally to take the win.

Game 1: McDaniel 11, Franklin & Marshall 6

An RBI-fielder's choice from junior Shea McKenna plated the first run of the opener, scoring graduate student Shane Daly for a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The Diplomats tied the game in the second on a sacrifice fly. RBI-singles from sophomore Anthony Cerone and junior Ethan Haddock gave the Green Terror a 3-1 lead in the fifth.

McDaniel pulled away in the opener with a seven-run frame in the sixth inning. Sophomore Thomas Mezzullo drove in Daly after being hit by a pitch, and Cerone drew a bases-loaded walk to score senior Ben Davis for a 5-1 lead. McKenna scored on another bases-loaded walk and Mezzullo scored on a wild pitch to make the score 7-1. Junior DJ Stolba blasted a three-run homer to left field to put 10 runs on the board for McDaniel, his fourth homer of the season.

Davis scored on a fielder's choice to begin the seventh inning, but the Diplomats rallied in the bottom half of the frame with five runs. A sacrifice fly followed by three consecutive RBI-singles and an RBI-double plated five runs and made the score 11-6. The score held until the ninth, when Franklin & Marshall left a runner stranded on base to give the Green Terror the win in the opener.

Stolba went 1-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored while Mezzullo, Cerone and Haddock each finished with two RBIs. McKenna had two hits with an RBI while Daly went 2-for-6 with two runs scored. Davis had a base hit and scored three times in the win.

First-year Jack Kinsey improved his record to 5-0 on the year, tossing 104 pitches in six innings and totaling four strikeouts, three walks, one earned run and six base hits.

Game 2: McDaniel 6, Franklin & Marshall 1

The Green Terror jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game two, highlighted by a two-run single from Cerone and a sacrifice bunt from Stolba to score Mezzullo. Cerone added another RBI hit in the third when he drove in McKenna on an RBI-single to make the score 4-0.

Two more runs came across to score in the seventh, after Cerone drove in his fourth RBI of the game on another RBI-single and Mezzullo stole home plate, giving the Green Terror a 6-0 lead. The shutout held until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Franklin & Marshall scored on an RBI-double. The Diplomats went down in order to end the ninth, securing a sweep for the visitors.

Cerone went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate in game two, continuing a torrid six-game stretch where he has recorded 15 hits in 26 at-bats with 12 RBIs. His five hits are a season-high for any Green Terror batter this season.

McKenna finished game two with two hits in four at-bats with two runs scored while Mezzullo went 1-for-4, scoring twice in the win.

Junior Ryan Buecker got the start and the win, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings and collecting two strikeouts and two walks on only two hits. First-year Chase Shepard struck out two batters and walked one in 1.1 innings in relief. 

The Green Terror return to Preston Field on Tuesday to host Gettysburg in the first game of a home-and-home. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.