BOX SCORE (Game 1)
BOX SCORE (Game 2)
Glenside, PA (April 19, 2008) – Sophomore Ryan Blacker (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) made a spectacular catch and junior Zac Hess (Harleysville, PA/LaSalle) hit a two-run home run to lead the DeSales University baseball team to a doubleheader split at Arcadia University with a 6-4 game two win on Saturday afternoon in Freedom Conference action.
The Bulldogs (16-17-1, 8-7 Freedom) dropped game one (4-3) before rebounding in game two to take the best-of-three series over the weekend two games to one. The split drops the Knights to 13-17-1 overall and 8-7 in the Freedom.
In the first game on Saturday, DSU opened up a 3-0 lead with one run in the first inning on an RBI single from sophomore Andrew Feher (Riegelsville, PA/Palisades) and two runs in the second inning on an RBI single from junior Matt Connors (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) and an RBI double from junior Nick Repas (Abingdon, MD/Bel Air).
That ended the scoring for the Bulldogs as the Knights tied the game in the third inning with three unearned runs courtesy of two DSU errors and took the lead for good in the fourth with one run on an RBI groundout. After the second inning, DeSales had just one runner reach second base over the final five frames.
Sophomore Charles Swenson (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. Hebron) took the loss going all six innings allowing just three hits and one earned run, but walked six, while striking out three.Feher and senior Scott Matejicka (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) each had two hits in game one.
The second game started out eerily similar as DSU took an early 3-0 lead this time with two runs in the first inning on an RBI double from Hess and an RBI single from Feher and one run in the second on a sacrifice fly from senior Andrew Heard (Alexandria, VA?Hayfield).
Arcadia cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the second inning, tied the game with two runs in the fourth inning and took a 4-3 lead in the fifth as the Bulldogs went in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
Junior Greg Treat (Concord, NH/Concord) broke thru in the top of the sixth inning hitting a lead-off solo home run to tie the game at four and with AU threatening to the game in the bottom of the sixth Blacker came thru with what coach Tim Neiman called “the greatest catch I have seen in my 18 years coaching at DeSales” to end the threat and keep the game tied. With runners on first and second and two out, AU's Ken Spangenberg hit a long fly ball to right-field that Blacker tracked down, making a running catch as he crashed into the fence saving a possible three-run home run.
The Bulldog bench erupted, meeting Blacker on the field to congratulate him and the momentum carried over to the top of the seventh inning as Heard was hit by a pitch, was sacrificed to second by Matejicka and scored when Hess hit his second home run of the series to give DSU a 6-4 lead. Junior Andrew Kulhamer (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) then set the Knight down in order in the bottom of the inning to earn his first win of the season pitching two scoreless innings allowing just one hit and striking out one.
Hess finished with three hits, two runs scored and three RBI's in the game two win, while Blacker had two hits, scored once and recorded a spectacular game-saving catch to help the Bulldogs earn a split.
The Bulldogs are now off for two days before they go to battle with local rival Moravian College for its annual tussle under the lights at Limeport Stadium on Tuesday evening beginning at 7:00 pm.
