PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – The Moravian College baseball team defeated nationally-ranked No. 8 Adrian College, 15-8, Tuesday afternoon in the Snowbird Classic. The Greyhounds jumped out to a 13-0 lead through the top half of the sixth while the Bulldogs fought back and scored eight runs in the sixth and seventh inning, but it wasn't enough.
Sophomore pitcher Eric Schmidt would get the start for Adrian. He would get the first two batters to fly out before sophomore outfielder Matt Hanson hit a double down the right field line. Sophomore third baseman Ryan Luke followed with a triple to centerfield, and he was able to score after a throwing error by the centerfielder to put the Greyhounds up 2-0.
Freshman pitcher Anthony Zaloga would get the nod for Moravian to start the bottom of the first. Zaloga allowed one hit, but got out of the inning with Moravian's 2-0 lead intact.
Freshman catcher Mike Roethke would hit a two-out double to the left centerfield gap in the top of the second. Classmate outfielder Cameron Leon then drove him home with a single through the right side to put the Greyhounds up 3-0.
Junior outfielder Joseph Connell started the top of the fourth with a double down the left field line. Freshman first baseman Charles Savite then singled to the first baseman to put men on the corners with zero outs. Classmate designated hitter Alex Bull hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Connell. Roethke and Leon added back-to-back singles to load the bases with one out. Case then reached on a fielder's choice, but Roethke and Savite both scored after a throwing error by the third baseman. Junior second baseman Daniel Seitzinger added a single to right field to score Leon. Hanson then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Case for the 8-0 lead. After a walk by Luke, Seitzinger and Luke attempted a double steal, but a throwing error by the catcher allowed Seitzinger to score for the 9-0 advantage.
Savite and Bull opened the top of the fifth with back-to-back singles. Roethke then reached on an error by the shortstop. Leon brought Savite home after a ground out. Case followed with a single to the shortstop to allow Bull to score. Seitzinger then hit a single to right field that drove home Roethke.
In the top of the sixth, Connell started the inning off with a walk. He then advanced to third after an error and ground out. Bull then walked to put men on the corners. Leon added a single to score Connell for the 13-0 lead.
Junior outfielder Sam Fischer started the bottom of the sixth with a home run to left field for the Bulldogs. Junior first baseman R.J. Rios then hit a double which drove home one more run. Senior catcher Anthony Sergi followed with a triple to centerfield to score Rios to put the score at 13-3, Moravian.
Adrian added five runs in the bottom of the seventh with two coming off a two-run home run by Fischer to make the score 13-8, Moravian.
Case started the top of the ninth by getting hit by a pitch. He then stole second before Seitzinger tallied a single to right field and moved to second on the throw home. Hanson reached on an error by the shortstop while driving home Case. After Hanson stole second, Connell drove home Seitzinger with a sacrifice bunt to put Moravian up 15-8.
Junior pitcher Ben Hammel was on the mound for Moravian in the bottom of the ninth. He struck out the first batter and got the second batter to line out to centerfield before hitting the third batter of the inning. Hammel forced the final batter of the game to ground out to third.
Zaloga went 6.1 innings to earn his first collegiate victory while striking out five and allowing five earned runs. Hammel pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball with three strikeouts.
Leon led the way with three hits and three RBIs for Moravian. Seitzinger went 3-for-6 with two RBIs, two runs and a stolen base while Luke had a triple, RBI and a run scored. Hanson went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, a stolen base and a run scored while Savite went 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Roethke added two hits and three runs scored while Case had two RBIs and two runs scored. Connell scored twice while Bull scored once and had a RBI.
Schmidt took the loss after giving up nine runs in 3.1 innings for Adrian. Fisched led the Bulldogs while going 2-for-5 with three RBIs and two home runs. Rios and Sergi added two RBIs for Adrian in the loss.
Moravian will take on John Carroll University later today at in the Snowbird Classic.