MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Neumann University Baseball team took advantage of mistakes on Wednesday afternoon and defeated Houghton University in a non-conference game, 14-2.
 
Cody Rullo went 2-for-4 while Donovan Brooks and Anthony Rakotz were responsible for four runs each as Brook scored four and Rakotz scored three and drove in another. Joe Boccio also scored three runs and had an RBI. Nick Ciesielka scored three runs as well. Alex Gambol pitched five shutout innings to earn the win in his collegiate debut. He allowed two hits and walked three while striking out seven. Kyle Dailey and Noah Murdock also pitched the first games of their careers, earned their first strikeout, and locked up the win.
 
Brooks led off the game by reaching on a walk and immediately stole second. Rakotz followed with a walk and both him and Brooks moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch. Ciesielka walked to load the bases and two batters later, Andrew Brown walked to force in Brooks. Rakotz later scored on an error to double the Knights' lead at 2-0.
 
After a scoreless second, Ciesielka reached on a one-out walk, followed by a walk to Boccio. Two consecutive wild pitches resulted in Ciesielka scoring and Boccio advancing to third. Brown was then walk and after a pitching change, Colton Shaub drove in Boccio on a groundout, moving Brown to second. Brown then moved to third on a balk and after Blake Decker walk, another balk forced in Brown for a 5-0 Neumann lead.
 
The Knights added on further in the fourth to pull away. Brooks led off by getting hit by a pitch and stealing second. Rakotz drove him in with a single into right field. Rakotz quickly stole second himself and after Ciesielka was intentionally walked, and Boccio was hit by a pitch, the bases were loaded. With the infield drawn in, Brown grounded to short but Rakotz was nabbed at the plate. Shaub followed by driving in two on a fielder's choice and an error to lead by eight. Houghton scored a final run in the seventh with an RBI single to centerfield.
 
Rullo led off the following inning with an infield single, his first collegiate hit. Brooks singled off the pitcher and Rakotz walked to load the bases with nobody out. After a fielder's choice got Rullo at the plate, Boccio was hit by a pitch to score Brooks. An error later cleared the bases for a 12-0 lead. The Knights picked up a couple more runs in the sixth on two separate errors. Houghton was able to avoid the shutout in the bottom of the sixth when they plated a run on an RBI double.
 
Neumann (2-1) will continue their annual Spring Break trip with a game against Long Island's Saint Joseph's University, Thursday evening at 6:00 PM.