Stevens scored three runs in the eighth inning to take the lead and top Tufts 8-7 Saturday afternoon. Stevens athletics photo

There is no better way to celebrate your birthday than leading your team to the program's first doubleheader sweep of conference rival DeSales since 2011. That is exactly how Dan Hartson spent his Saturday afternoon as the King's opened Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play with two wins over the visiting Bulldogs at Lipo Field. Hartson was 5-for-7 on the day at the plate scoring three runs and he knocked in the go-ahead RBI in the sixth of King's 6-4 game one victory. He threw four strong innings in an 11-3 victory during the nightcap allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

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In game one of a doubleheader, Brendan Ward shined on the mound and timely hitting gave Lebanon Valley a 7-1 victory over Albright in the Flying Dutchmen's 2019 home opener. In game two of the twinbill, LVC once again got great pitching as Kyle Kingsbury escaped a few jams and allowed just one run in the Dutchmen's 5-1 win to give LVC the sweep. After today's two wins, the Dutchmen improved to 9-2, 2-0 MAC Commonwealth and Albright fell to 1-6, 0-2 MAC Commonwealth.

• Saturday roundup

Fifteen was the Hope College baseball team's magic number. The Flying Dutchman scattered 15 hits in each of their two games in Winter Haven, Florida, beating Lawrence twice, 14-7 and 9-8. And the 30^th hit of the day came in a dramatic way off the bat of Joey Merucci in the second game. After the Flying Dutchmen and the Viking traded leads for much of the game, the score was tied 8-8 entering ninth inning. Junior CJ Otteman of Zeeland (Zeeland East HS) dispatched three straight batters in top of the ninth to allow for a potential Flying Dutchman rally in the bottom half of the inning. One out and five Hope batters later, Merucci stepped to the plate and drove a walk-off single to right center, scoring junior Mason Opple who had gotten on first thanks to a Viking error, advanced to second due to a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Brant Kym, and reached third on another Lawrence error.

Texas-Dallas freshman left-hander Ryan Vera recorded his first collegiate shutout as he pitched the Comets to a 3-0 win over reigning NCAA Division III National Champion Texas-Tyler to open a home doubleheader with the Patriots. After dropping three-game series opener to UTT on Friday, the Comets turned to their freshman to even the set and he delivered with a three-hit complete game to start Saturday's twin bill. However, the Comets (8-13) dropped the series finale to UTT, 5-1, to close the weekend set.

Case Western Reserve freshman Nick Denove pitched six shutout innings, and senior third baseman Jacob Kucia recorded his second five-hit effort in the last five games, as the Spartans rolled to a 12-2 win over Western New England in their penultimate game at the Spartan Southern Classic in Lexington, South Carolina. The win raised the Spartans' record to 7-6 overall, including a 5-3 mark over Spring Break, while Western New England dropped to 2-2 with the loss. Denove allowed just four hits over his six innings of work, striking out six batters and failing to walk a hitter.  The southpaw totaled 94 pitches and picked up the win to improve to 2-1 on the year, while lowering his earned run average to 2.38.

Ryan Krout became the first player since Kurtis Kloke (April 7, 2017) to hit multiple home runs in a game to propel the Pacific University baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Whitman on Saturday. The Boxers won game one by a 5-1 margin and game two by an 8-7 advantage. Pacific (14-6, 8-3 NWC) is now 8-3 at the friendly confines of Chuck Bafaro Stadium on the season. Game one was an all-around team for the Boxers with Chase Anderson and Dustin Meyer having multiple hits and starting pitcher Casey Brown going the distance for his fourth complete game of the season. Game two was a career game for Krout, who went 4-for-5 including two home runs with three runs scored and four RBI. Not to be lost in the heroics by Krout was Tyler Oscarson, who pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth for the win.

Franklin hit the road for their first true road game of the year, opening a three-game home-and-home series with the Wilmington Quakers. Aaron Leming (2-0) remained perfect on the year, scattering seven hits while fanning six over 6.1 innings of work. Tyler Robinson made his first appearance out of the bullpen, combining with Mitch Merica to get the ball to Stonebraker for the final three outs.

Sophomore shortstop Mike Khoury had a monster day, going 3-for-6 with three home runs and six RBI, including a key grand slam in the second game, as Brandeis split with Clark University today in Worcester. The Cougars won the opener, 20-3, but the Judges bounced back to take the second contest, 10-3. The Judges now stand at 5-2 on the season, while Clark is 6-4.

SUNY Oneonta swept their SUNYAC doubleheader against Brockport Saturday afternoon by scores of 5-1 and 8-6. Oneonta athletics photo

Another masterful pitching performance by junior Matthew D'Ambrosia lifted the Muhlenberg baseball team to a 6-1 win in the second game and a split of its doubleheader at Penn State Berks. The Mules (7-4) dropped the first game, 6-3, in their first action since returning from Florida a week ago. D'Ambrosia allowed only four hits and struck out eight in his second consecutive complete-game win. The Nittany Lions (6-5) scored their lone run in the first inning on a single, groundout, wild pitch and passed ball. D'Ambrosia, who has not allowed an earned run in 19 innings this season, retired nine straight batters in one stretch and ended the game with a strikeout.

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Senior Austin Lindner, sophomore Jordan DeDonato and freshman Michael Fraser all batted .500 and combined for eight RBI while senior Steven Gallagher and Junior Tyrone Patterson each accumulated five hits, including eight for extra bases, as WPI split a twinbill with New England College at the New England Baseball Complex. The Engineers (11-3) won the first part of the seven-plus hour marathon 22-21 and the Pilgrims (10-4) return to Henniker with a 6-5 victory in the nightcap. Lindner was 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, three RBI and four runs scored as DeDonato was 2-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored, and Fraser was 4-for-8 with a pair of doubles, a home run, four RBI and three runs scored. Gallagher and Patterson each finished 5-for-11 with three RBI apiece.

Occidental bounced back in a big way with a blowout victory over Bowdoin, 14-1 at Anderson Field. Oxy, which is off to a good start to the season, had dropped two non-conference games in a row to Whitman and Ithaca earlier this week as part of a busy non-conference stretch during Oxy's spring break. Nolan McCarthy pitched six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and no walks to earn the win. He gave up just three hits and one unearned run in the top of the second inning. Max Sterner finished off the final three innings for the save, striking out five with no walks and just three hits against him. The Tigers offense was on its game, totaling 14 hits and 14 RBIs.

Nick DeFeo's first career start set an awfully high bar. The sophomore right-handed pitcher worked a four-hit shutout against a 7-1 Rhode Island College squad, helping Ursinus salvage a split of its last two games in Florida. Already with a save under his belt during the annual spring-break trip to the Sunshine State, DeFeo was untouchable in the nightcap, locking down the Anchormen and avenging an 11-7 loss in the morning. Juniors Dom Fiorentino and Alex Mumme continued to climb the all-time charts in triples and doubles, respectively, to help the Bears return home with a .326 team batting average and a 7.8 runs-per-game average in tow.

Ithaca bounced back from its loss yesterday to Redlands with a 6-4 victory at La Verne on Saturday morning to conclude its spring trip to California. Ithaca is now 5-3 on the season, while La Verne falls to 10-6. This is the third straight season that the Bombers have won five games against their California counterparts. Tyler Hill earned his second win of the trip in six innings pitched with three strikeouts. Hill allowed two runs on nine hits before exiting the game.

For the second time this week, Sewanee walked off an opposing team. A 10th inning wild pitch was the deciding run, as they downed Oglethorpe, who had 10 hits, 1-0 in the second game of the doubleheader from Montgomery Field. In the series opener earlier in the day, the Petrels took the contest, 7-3. The Stormy Petrels got out to a 7-0 lead after five and a half of innings of play in game one, cruising to the win. Game two was scheduled to be a seven-inning game but went three more innings until the only run of the inning was scored.

The Duhawks split games in their first day in the Chicago suburbs. Loras defeated Northland in game one, 7-1, and lost on another walk-off to Aurora, 6-5. Loras athletics photo

Louisiana College accomplished something they hadn't done since 2016 on Saturday and starting pitcher Andrew Robinson did something that had never been done since the Wildcats joined the NCAA. For the first time since the 2016 season the Wildcats swept an American Southwest Conference series with their 7-0 win over Belhaven. While the win was a big one for the team, their 10th in a row, it was the performance of pitcher Andrew Robinson that shined brightest for the Cats. The junior, in his third start of the season, threw the first nine inning complete game shutout in the Louisiana College NCAA era. Robinson gave up only four hits in the game with six strikeouts. He faced just three batters over the minimum without allowing a walk or hitting a batter and faced just three batters in six of the nine innings he threw picking up his third, and most impressive, win of the season.

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• Marymount sweeps Wesley in Atlantic East opener

Berry scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning and another in the tenth to defeat Marietta , 7-6. The loss drops Marietta to 4-6 on the season, while Berry improves to 13-6 overall. Freshman Reeve Holley entered the game in the fourth inning when Berry's starting shortstop was unable to continue after being injured on a collision at first base in the first inning. Holley was 0-for-2 in first two at bats, but with one out and runners on first and second, Holley delivered a single through the right side of the infield that drove in the winning run.

• Arcadia's Showers tosses no-hitter

Alvernia (10-4) won both games in a doubleheader at Widener (5-9) to sweep the 3-game series in MAC Commonwealth action. Matt Briner homered and drove in all four runs in a 4-3 win in the opener. Nick Marotta went six innings for the win and Kyle Gaynor pitched the seventh for the save. Six different players had a hit each for Alvernia in game one. It was the second straight game the Wolves opened the scoring with a 3-run homer. Nate Sides hit one in Alvernia's 7-3 win over Widener on Friday. In game two, Jake Reese threw six innings and improved to 3-0 while lowering his ERA to 0.56. Sides was 1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI and pitched the seventh to pick up his first career save. Five different players had a hit each for the Wolves in a pitchers' duel in game two.

On a blustery afternoon, MIT swept Salem State by finals of 3-2 and 5-1 in a non-conference doubleheader that was played at St. John's Prep. In game one, sophomore Ethan Rolland scored the winning run on a wild pitch that went to the backstop. In the top of the seventh, Salem State had a chance for a split when they loaded the bases with no outs but sophomore Casey Bussone struck out two and got the final out on a flyout to right to secure his first victory of the year. Bussone went four innings on relief with four strikeouts and nine hits allowed.

Calvin split a pair of games against Indiana opposition, defeating Rose-Hulman 11-7 and falling to DePauw 12-1. The Knights are now 3-3 on the year heading into a four-day trip to Tennessee and Georgia. Less than 24 hours after falling to Rose-Hulman 3-2, Calvin turned the tables on the Fightin Engineers with a seven-run third inning enroute to the win. In the Knight's second game, DePauw banged out 14 hits in gaining a 12-1 victory over Calvin.