Center Valley, PA (May 1, 2021) - The DeSales University baseball team won game one on a walk-off error and senior
John Poccia was masterful in game two punching out 15 Monarchs leading the Bulldogs to a DH sweep of King's College in the MAC Freedom postseason tournament quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at Weiland Park.
DSU advances to the semifinals next weekend where they will host the #3 seed, Stevens Institute of Technology, on Saturday in the best of three series with games one and two at Weiland Park beginning at Noon.
Game One
This was a back-and-forth offensive affair with both teams holding big leads that neither could hold.
King's took a 5-1 lead with four runs in the top of the second inning after the Bulldogs lost a ball in the sun and made an error one batter later leading to three unearned runs.
DSU trailed 5-2 entering the bottom of the fifth when the Bulldogs exploded for seven runs, taking advantage of two King's errors, to claim a 9-5 lead. Freshman
Gavin Zavorski had the big blow, a three-run triple, while junior
Robert Lamm , sophomore
Thomas Carpenter, and senior
Sergio Diaz each had RBI singles in the inning.
The Monarchs wasted no time taking back the lead scoring six times in the top of the sixth on five hits and one Bulldog error to hold an 11-9 lead.
That advantage held into the bottom of the eighth inning when DSU took advantage of a leadoff walk and a hit batter as sophomore
Colin Trembley tied the game with a two-run double.
After the Monarchs stranded two, two-out base runners in the top of the ninth, Carpenter had a one-out double to left center field. After sophomore
Joe Grigas IV was walked intentionally, Lamm flied out to left field. Head coach
Tim Neiman sent junior
Dillon Drew to the plate as a pinch-hitter. Drew sent a high fly ball to right field but the Monarchs rightfielder had the ball jump out of his glove and fall to the ground as Carpenter scampered home with the game-winning run.
Junior
JJ Paul earned the win getting the final out in the ninth inning. Carpenter finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored, Trembley had two hits, two RBIs, and two runs scored, and freshman
Liam Kile had two hits.
Game Two
Poccia was the story in this one as he tied the mark for the second most strikeouts in a game with 15, one shy of the all-time record of 16. He struck out the side twice and struck out at least one batter in eight of nine innings. He gave up one run in the game and didn't issue a walk, scattering seven hits over a complete-game nine inning effort.
DSU scored in four straight innings to take a 6-1 lead before posting the final 7-1 win. In the second, junior
Billy Scanlon and Grigas had back-to-back triples to plate two runs, Lamm and senior
Hunter Spalt hit solo home runs in the third and fourth innings, and Scanlon and Grigas each had RBIs in the sixth.
Lamm finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, Grigas had two hits and two RBIs, Drew had two hits and an RBI, and Spalt finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
