Center Valley, PA (April 25, 2007) – After coughing up a 6-0 lead in the opener of the Freedom Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, sophomore James Niesuchouski (Chester, VT/St. Dominic) gave the DeSales University baseball team exactly what they needed in recording his second shutout of the season to lead the Bulldogs to a doubleheader split with FDU-Florham at Butz Field.

 

        The win moves DSU to 22-11 overall and 11-4 in the Freedom Conference, while the Devils move to 19-13 overall and 10-5 in the Freedom.  The Bulldogs remain in first place in the Freedom Conference standings and can earn the #1 seed in next weekend’s Freedom Conference Tournament at Quakertown Memorial Park with three wins in its last three conference games or with two wins on Sunday vs. Scranton and one loss by FDU-Florham in its doubleheader on Sunday at Drew University.

 

        Niesuchouski was terrific in game two allowing just six hits and striking out six to improve to 6-2 on the season and earn Cambridge Search Player of the Game honors.  He allowed just one runner to reach third base and only three runners to touch second base in the win.

 

        Offensively, DeSales spread out its attack with runs in five of the six innings.  Junior JT Brotosky (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) plated freshman Doc Neiman (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh) with the game’s first run in the first inning, while junior Scott Matejicka (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) scored on a wild pitch and sophomore Matt Connors (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) knocked in junior Andrew Heard (Alexandria, VA/Haayfield) in the second inning.

 

        Sophomore Zac Hess (Harleysville, PA/LaSalle) hit a two-run double in the fourth and Neiman also knocked in two with a bloop single in the fifth.  Matejicka was the lone Bulldog with multiple hits in game two, while Neiman and Hess each knocked in two runs.  DSU drew 10 walks in the second game.

 

        In the first game on Saturday, the Bulldogs seemed to be in complete control leading 6-0 with three runs in the second and fourth innings.  Senior Matt Lezinsky (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) had an RBI single in both innings and DSU capitalized on a couple of Devils errors to score the other runs.

 

        FDU-Florham scored once in the fifth to cut the lead to 6-1 before the wheels fell off the DSU train in the sixth.  The Devils loaded the bases with two singles and a hit batter with one out when junior Mike Concilio (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) entered the game looking to close the game out and earn his second save of the season.

 

        A wild pitch plated the first run and was followed by a single to centerfield making the score 6-3.  Consecutive walks loaded the bases again and a balk saw the visitor’s pull within two runs.  A sacrifice fly to right field made the score 6-5 and put runners on first and third before DJ Hanna hit an infield single to shortstop to tie the game at six.

 

        DSU put a runner on second base in the sixth with two outs but were unable to plate the go-ahead run and the Bulldogs went in order in the seventh as the game headed to extra innings.  DSU once again threatened in the eighth when Lezinsky sent a hard line drive into centerfield with what seemed to be a game-winning hit, but the ball went directly to the Devil centerfielder for the third out of the inning.

 

        In the ninth and one out on the board, the Devils loaded the bases with consecutive singles and a walk when Dan Bellino sent a double to the wall in left-center clearing the bases.  DSU scored once in the bottom of the inning and had the tying run at first base with two out before a strike out ended the game.

 

        Concilio suffered the loss allowing seven hits and five runs to go along with three walks and three strikeouts over 3.2 innings of work.  Lezinsky finished game one 3-for-4 with two RBI’s and sophomore Mike Bianca (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. St. Joseph) and sophomore Greg Treat (Concord, NH/Concord) each had two hits and two runs scored in game two.