BOX SCORE (Game 1)
BOX SCORE (Game 2)
Center Valley, PA (April 5, 2008) – The DeSales University baseball team continued to struggle offensively, settling for a split (6-4 and 1-6) in a Freedom Conference doubleheader with Delaware Valley College on Saturday afternoon at Butz Field.
The split drops the Bulldogs to 12-11 overall and 5-3 in the Freedom Conference, while the Aggies move to 14-8 overall and 2-3 in the Freedom. DeSales failed to record double digit hits for the fifth straight game after totaling 10+ hits in three straight games prior to the cold spell. After scoring 14+ runs in three straight games last week, the Bulldogs have now mustered just 18 runs over their last five games.
DSU did take game one of the afternoon and the three-game series with the Aggies by a 6-4 score. After taking a 2-0 lead with two runs in the second inning on an RBI single from freshman Carson Slonaker (East Greenville, PA/Perkiomen School) and one DVC error, the Aggies tied the game with two runs of their own in the top of the fourth inning.
The Bulldogs took the lead right back when junior Nick Repas (Abingdon, MD/Bel Air) laced a two-out, two-run triple to centerfield in the bottom of the fourth inning plating junior Zac Hess (Harleysville, PA/LaSalle) and sophomore Derek Moyer (Harleysville, PA/Souderton). DVC trimmed the lead down to one in the fifth with a solo run, but Repas came thru again in the sixth with an RBI single and later scored on an RBI single from sophomore Ryan Blacker (Allentown, PA/Emmaus).
Repas finished game one with two hits and three RBI's, while Slonaker also had two hits in the game one win. Hess and Moyer each scored twice in game one. Freshman Jeffrey Pinto (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh) earned the pitching well 2.2 solid innings of relief allowing just one earned run. Sophomore Joe Walsh (Green Brook, NJ/Watchung Hills) recorded his fourth save of the season, recording the final two outs in the seventh.
In game two, the Bulldogs managed just six hits and one run as the Aggies jumped out early scoring three times in the first and added solo runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh to post the final margin. Freshman Tim Fiorito (Mesa, AZ/Seton Catholic) was the lone player with multiple hits, two, including a double in the seventh inning.
Sophomore Charles Swenson (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. Hebron) suffered the loss despite not pitching poorly. He scattered nine hits over 5.2 innings allowing just two earned runs and striking out seven.
DeSales will once again try to win the third game of a weekend Freedom Conference series on Monday in order to take two of three from the Aggies as they travel to Doylestown, PA for the final game of the three-game set with first pitch set for 3:30 pm.
