ASTON, Pa. – Three pitchers combined for a two-hit shutout as the Neumann University Baseball team defeated Hood College game on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action by a final score of 9-0.
Kaden Netta got the start and went seven innings for the win. He allowed just one hit and walked four while striking out two. He improves to 2-1.
Chris Balshuweit pitched a perfect eighth with two strikeouts and
Ayden Wescott made his collegiate debut in the ninth, allowing a hit and a walk, fanning one.
Offensively,
Anthony Rakotz led the way, going 3 for 5 with a double, a run batted in, and a run scored.
Andrew Brown was 1 for 2 with three walks, two RBI, and a run scored.
Brandon Colon,
Tyler Kilmer, and
Donovan Brooks all added two RBI each.
Both teams were handed glorious scoring opportunities in the first innings as they each had the bases loaded with less than two out, but neither could score. With one out in the second,
Josh Finger walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. On a Brooks groundout, Finger scored for a 1-0 lead.
AJ Nardo led off the third with a double to the right-centerfield gap and moved to third on a wild pitch.
Thomas Carroll followed with a walk, stole second, then Brown walked to load the bases. Colon followed with a two-run double to plate Nardo and Carroll for a three-run lead. Kilmer drove in Brown on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0 game.
In the fourth, Rakotz led off with a double to left and Nardo followed with a single, moving to second on an error, pushing Rakotz to third. Three batters later, Brown hit a two-run single through the left side of the infield for a 6-0 edge. A two-out rally in the fifth allowed another run to score as Brooks was hit by a pitch, stole second and third, and scored on a Rakotz RBI single.
Brooks drove in another run in the seventh inning to make it an eight-run edge. Then, Kilmer pushed home the final run of the day, driving in
Blake Decker on a sacrifice fly.
Neumann (19-8, 6-3 Atlantic East) will try to make it five wins in a row on Wednesday afternoon when they visit Lancaster Bible College for a 3:30 PM start.
