SCRANTON, Pa. – The Neumann University Baseball team dropped both ends of an Atlantic East Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, falling by scores of 5-0 and 5-3 against Marywood University.
After two scoreless innings in game one, Marywood opened the scoring with a third inning RBI groundout. They broke the game open in the fifth on two RBI singles and an error that allowed two runs to score.
Michael Harless suffered the loss, allowing two earned runs over 4.1 innings, on seven hits while striking out two.
Rey Carrier kept the Knights in the game with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, allowed a hit and two walks.
Game two had a different feel as
Anthony Rakotz led off the game with a double down the left field line. He moved to third on a
Jackson Armiger bunt single and scored on a sacrifice fly. Two batters later,
Brayden Fields walked and
Yoan Feliz drove in Armiger with an RBI single.
Blake Decker plated Fields with his own RBI base hit for a 3-0 lead.
From there, the Neumann offense stalled as Marywood started to chip away in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring wild pitch. The Pacers scored single runs in the fourth and fifth on an RBI single and a solo home run, tying the game. In the eight, Marywood took the lead on a bases-loaded walk and added one last run on a sacrifice fly.
Jack Holladay had a solid start, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks, while striking out two over four innings of work.
Alex Gambol was handed the loss as he worked 3.1 innings of relief.
Rakotz led the offensive effort, hitting 3 for 8 on the day with a double and a run scored. Armiger was 2 for 6 with a walk, two stolen bases, and a run scored, and
Nick Ciesielka reached base three times, going 1 for 4 with two walks and a run batted in.
Neumann finishes the season with an overall record of 20-15-1. Their Atlantic East Conference record of 9-9 places them just one game of out a postseason tournament spot.
