The Misericordia University baseball team scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and Mike Turton threw two scoreless innings as the Cougars opened their MAC Freedom schedule with a 4-3 win over DeSales, Friday afternoon at Tambur Field.
 
Al Reda had two hits and an RBI and drew a walk to start the game-winning rally.
 
Jeremy DeCotiis and Alec Iurato both drove in runs on sacrifice flies.
 
Turton struck out two batters in relief of Ryan Dorosh.
 
Iurato led off the second inning with a walk and moved up on Mike Comerford's single through the left side.  Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and DeCotiis drove a deep fly to right field to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
 
DeSales got the run back in the top of the fifth when D.J. Navoczynski made a diving catch on a sacrifice fly to left field.
 
The Cougars answered in the bottom of the frame when DeCotiis ripped a 1-2 pitch to right field for a single.  He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and raced home on Reda's soft liner to center to make it 2-1.
 
DeSales took a 3-2 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh.
 
Misericordia put together a two-run rally in the bottom of the eighth without the benefit of a hit.  Reda drew a lead-off walk and after a pitching change, pinch-runner Parker Abate took second on a wild pitch.  Pinch-hitter Kenny Jarema and Kyle Lindsay drew back-to-back walks to load the bases and all three runners moved up on Iurato's sacrifice fly to deep right.
 
Jarema scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch.
 
Turton struck out the first two batters in the top of the ninth before the Bulldogs put two runners on base.  Chris Boroch made a nice play in the hole to the game-ending out at second base.
 
Misericordia will visit DeSales for a doubleheader, Saturday at noon.