ASTON, Pa. – The Neumann University baseball team swept the Gwynedd Mercy University Griffins in an Atlantic East Conference doubleheader on Friday afternoon. The Knights won the games by scores of 16-3 and 22-4 to qualify for the postseason.
In the first game,
Nick Glebocki went 5.0 scoreless innings while allowing four hits and striking out five in the win.
RJ Mawhinney made his debut on the mound and allowed three runs in the sixth inning.
Josh Cruz pitched the seventh inning and allowed a hit and struck out one.
Ryan Lopez went 3-for-4 with four RBI, three runs scored and two homeruns. Five Knights had two hits in the game as well.
Lopez put the Knights on the board with a leadoff homerun in the bottom of the first. In the third, Neumann had the first five batters reach base via a walk, hit batter and three singles as it took a 5-0 lead.
Zach Ray singled to lead off the fourth inning.
Cris Diaz and
Andrew Curran drew walks to load the bases.
Marcus White then singled to score Ray and Diaz.
Shawn Vega hit a sacrifice fly to score Curran.
Jose Romero followed with a single to score White. After a sac bunt and a single, Lopez hit his second homerun of the game, a three-run shot, for a 12-0 lead. Ray walked and Diaz singled for two runners on base. Curran knocked in Ray for a 13-0 Knights lead after four innings.
Vega led off the fifth with a solo homerun.
Anthony Basciano and Curran drew bases-loaded walks later in the inning for a 16-0 score after five innings.
The Griffins scored their three runs in the sixth.
In game two,
Will Hart went 6.0 scoreless innings for the win. He allowed four hits and struck out two.
Tyler Szilagyi picked up a three-inning save. He allowed four runs, just one earned, on eight hits and struck out two.
Vega went 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Romero had six RBI in the game. White and Ray each had three hits.
The Knights scored first again in game two after White doubled to lead off the second inning. He moved to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly by Romero.
In the third, Lopez singled to start the inning and scored on a triple by Ray. Ray then scored on an RBI ground out by Diaz. Curran followed with a single and scored on a hit by Vega for a 4-0 Neumann lead.
The bats exploded in the fifth as Neumann scored eight runs on nine hits. White and Vera opened the inning with singles and came around to score as Romero hit a homerun.
Colin Pollard singled and scored on a double by Lopez. Lopez then scored on a single by Ray. After a pitching change, Diaz doubled to score Ray. The Knights had two more RBI singles in the inning for a 12-0 game.
With one out in the sixth, Lopez, Ray and Basciano all walked to load the bases. With two outs,
Eric Jester hit a pinch-hit RBI single to score Lopez. An RBI single by Vega and bases loaded walks by Romero and Pollard made it a 16-0 score.
Andrew Fowler hit an RBI single,
Marty Cortellessa hit a two-run single and
Alec Silverman knocked an RBI single for a 20-0 lead after six innings.
The Griffins tallied three unearned runs in the top of the eighth. Cortellessa and Silverman had the final RBI hits for the Knights in the bottom of the eighth. Gwynedd Mercy added a run in the ninth for the 22-4 final.
Neumann (9-12, 6-12) has clinched the No. 4 seed in the Atlantic East postseason and will host Wesley College on Tuesday in a play-in game. First pitch is slated for 3:00 PM.
