The Misericordia baseball team used solid pitching and timely hitting to sweep FDU-Florham, Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at Tambur Field. MU took the first game, 8-4, before taking game two, 11-4.
The Cougars improve to 26-10 overall and 16-4 in the MAC Freedom as the Devils fall to 10-25 overall and 3-17Â in conference play.
In game one, Santo Guinta had three RBI and Steve Weisensee knocked in two while Conor Smith and Parker Abate each recorded two hits.
Drake Koch struck out eight batters in five innings and Kyle Melahn recorded the final six outs to earn the win.
Koch got off to a roaring start on the mound in the first inning, striking out the side on just 10 pitches.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Cougars jumped out to a 1-0 lead as Kenny Jarema came around to score on a double by Tyler Holzapfel to straightaway center field after getting hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.
Koch faced the minimum through three innings before the Devils broke through in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly and an RBI single.
In the fifth, Misericordia scored three runs to take the lead. Abate singled, Holzapfel walked and Guinta was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Weisensee, who hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. A wild pitch followed to give the Cougars the lead before a double off the wall from Smith put the Cougars up 4-2.
The lead was short-lived as the Devils tied it up on a two-run home run in the sixth from Reynaldo Diaz and looked poised to take the lead as they put runners on first and second with nobody out, but Melahn came out of the bullpen and recorded three straight outs to keep the game deadlocked.
In the bottom of the sixth, Guinta gave the Cougars the lead for good by smacking a bases-loaded double off the centerfield wall to drive in all three runs. Weisensee followed with a single up the middle to knock in Guinta to give Misericordia their eighth run and secure the victory.
In game two, Holzapfel drove in two runs and Jarema and senior Cole Bixler each had two hits. Elliot Forde allowed just one run on three hits and struck out three before being forced out of the game due to a lengthy rain delay.
The Devils took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a home run from Jack Paladino, but Forde settled down and allowed just one hit the next two innings to keep the Cougars close.
Misericordia took the lead in the fourth, scoring four runs on just three hits. Sean Lyons reached base on an error by the first basemen before coming around to score on a single by Bixler. Sean Boylan also reached on an error by the first basemen to put runners on first and second for Jarema, who singled home a run to give the Cougars the lead. MU added two more runs on a wild pitch and an RBI single from Holzapfel.
The Cougars blew the game open in the fifth, scoring seven runs and getting contributions from unlikely sources. Senior Alec Iurato hit an RBI single in his first at-bat of the season after missing the entire season to that point due to an injury. Senior Mike Blazaskie pinch ran for Iurato to make his first appearance of the season after missing all of it due to an injury and came around to score on a single by Chad Bell. After four straight walks and a sacrifice fly to score three more runs, senior pitcher Michael Turton came up to bat after missing nearly two months to an injury, but unfortunately, grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Senior Dan Zurowski came into pitch the sixth and allowed three runs, just one of them earned, after beginning the season with 9.1 scoreless innings.
Taylor Price finished the game for the Cougars and set the Devils down in order with a strikeout to secure an 11-4 victory.
The two teams will finish this series, tomorrow at 1:00, in Madison, New Jersey. Misericordia still has a chance at the one seed in the MAC Freedom tournament if they win and Wilkes can take down DeSales, tomorrow.
