Kenny Durling broke the Misericordia University baseball career hits record in style with a sixth-inning grand slam as the Cougars rolled past the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders 20-9 on Tuesday afternoon at Tambur Field.
 
Durling was 1-4 on the day with five RBI while Connor Moriarty (above) had a banner day at the plate, going 3-4 with two triples, a double and seven RBI. Joe Tagliarini added a 2-4 performance with four RBI while Steve Sulcoski, Julian Faria and Ryan Cacchioli each added two hits as part of a 16-hit day for MU.
 
Pete Doggett earned the win on the mound, scattering four hits, five walks and three runs over five innings while striking out three.
 
The Cougars jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the top of the first. Andrew Tressa started things with a one-out walk and advanced to second on a Sulcoski single through the right side. A Durling flyout moved Tressa to third and a Faria single sent Tressa home for an early 1-0 lead.
 
Cacchioli walked to load the bases for Tagliarini, who singled to left to score both Sulcoski and Faria. Moriarty followed up with his first triple of the game, a hard liner that rolled to the right-center wall to score Cacchioli and Tagliarini and push the MU advantage to 5-0.
 
The Scarlet Raiders (8-27) answered in the top of the second, scoring one run on a Tamayo bases-loaded walk and two more when McFarlane singled with the bases still loaded to cut the deficit to 5-3.
 
Durling was hit by a pitch to leadoff a big third inning for the Cougars and Faria was walked to give the Cougars a pair of baserunners. Both men advanced on a Cacchioli groundout, and a Tagliarini single allowed Durling to score from third. A Moriarty double down the left field line sent Durling and Faria home, and Moriarty would score on a Lindsay double down the left field line to give MU a 9-3 advantage.
 
Sulcoski doubled to lead off the Cougar fourth and later scored on a Cacchioli single through the right side to push MU's lead to 10-3.
 
A big MU fifth inning would put the game out of reach for Rutgers-Newark. Lindsay earned a one-out walk, and Tressa and Sulcoski were both hit by pitches to load the bases. Durling reached on an error, allowing both Lindsay and Tressa to score, and Cacchioli was hit by a pitch to load the bases once again.
 
A Tagliarini bases-loaded walk scored Sulcoski, and Moriarty stepped up to hit a bases-clearing triple to give the Cougars a 16-3 lead through five innings.
 
Anthony LoBello got a quick strikeout to start the sixth, and after walking a batter, the Cougar defense picked him up with a double play to keep the Cougars rolling into the sixth.
 
Lindsay started the offense for MU in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff single, and he moved to second when Tressa reached on an error. Sulcoski drew a walk to load the bases for Durling, who nailed the scoreboard in left center to give the Cougars a 20-3 lead with his fifth home run of the season and the 216^th hit of his career, breaking Nate Newman's 2011 record of 215.
 
The Scarlet Raiders scored one run in the seventh, two in the eighth, and three in the ninth to close the final gap to 20-9.
 
The Cougars return to action this weekend with an important three-game Freedom Conference series against Wilkes. MU is currently tied atop the Freedom standings with DeSales, as both teams have a 15-3 record.
 
MU will play a nine-inning game at Wilkes on Friday before hosting the Colonels for a doubleheader on Saturday.