WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic University baseball team took an important step toward securing a spot in the Landmark Conference Tournament on Saturday with two wins over visiting Lycoming.
Catholic celebrated manager Ross Natoli, who became the 16th active head coach in Division III to win 800 games when the team defeated the Warriors in game one.
Game One: Catholic 12-4 Lycoming
The Cardinals left no doubt that Natoli would win number 800 on the day, getting out to an early lead over Lycoming and never looking back.
Starting pitcher Roman Tozzi was brilliant yet again, allowing just one hit and one earned run in 5.2 innings. The impressive sophomore struck out 10 opponents and did not walk a batter on 80 pitches. The successful start pushes him to 7-0 on the year and sees his ERA drop to 2.06, marking the third time this season that he has fanned 10 batters.
Catholic got out to the perfect start, plating two runs before Lycoming could record an out. After a lead-off single by Steve Thomas, Zach Burton blasted his seventh home run of the season to left field.
The Cardinals added two more in the third when Jesse Lacefield tripled down the right-field line to score Logan Eilbacher. Catholic kept the momentum going as Sammy Burman then produced a double to score Lacefield.
Catholic really blew the game open in the fifth inning when Eilbacher and Burman started off the crooked frame with two solo shots. Thomas produced a sacrifice fly before Burton sent two more runs across with a single through the left side.
Lycoming was able to get a few runs back over the next two innings, pushing the score to 10-4 before Lacefield produced his second RBI triple of the contest. Again he laced one down the right-field line to plate Eilbacher before Michael Napolitano joined the offensive party with a sac fly and an RBI of his own.
Jake Kenney pitched three scoreless innings in relief for Catholic, allowing just one hit. The sophomore struck out three Warriors and allowed just one walk in 44 pitches of work in the strong outing to secure Natoli's 800th career win.
Game Two: Catholic 6-2 Lycoming
Lycoming got on the board first in game two, utilizing some trickery to plate a pair of runs in the first inning.
With runners on the corners, the Warrior coaching staff sent the runner to second base on an attempted steal. Lycoming was able to draw the throw so Nick Reeder dashed home to open the scoring. The Warriors were able to add another on an RBI groundout, forcing Catholic to play from behind.
The Cardinals got it all back and more with one swing of the bat as Eilbacher blasted a three-run shot to left field in the bottom of the third. The freshman had the green light on a 3-1 pitch and made no mistake to overturn the deficit.
Burman made it 4-2 in the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly to offer some insurance to starting pitcher Cody Bosak who responded very well after allowing the early runs. In fact, Bosak settled in to pitch 7.0 innings and allow just three hits. He did give up five walks but struck out seven to complete the quality start and earn the win.
Burton continued with his monster day at the plate, producing a pair of RBI singles in the sixth and eighth innings to complete the scoring. Mac Meara pitched the final 2.0 innings of the contest to the tune of just one hit and four strikeouts.
The first four batters in Catholic's game-two lineup combined to go 8-for-14 with two doubles, one home run, all six RBIs and four runs scored. Burton went 4-for-9 on the day with a home run, six RBIs and two runs score while Eilbacher got to the Warriors to the tune of 5-for-10 with two long balls, one double, four RBIs and four runs scored.
The victories are vital for Catholic as only two games in the win column separates top five teams in the conference standings. Every team wants to ensure they finish in the top three spots to avoid falling into the one-off, play-in game between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.
The Cardinals have a meaningful run-in during the final week of the season with the series finale against Lycoming tomorrow before stand-alone games against Elizabethtown on Monday and Scranton on Friday. The Blue Jays and the Royals are Catholic's closest challengers for the top seed in the conference tournament.
Catholic will go in search of the sweep tomorrow, with first pitch set for 12 p.m. Senior Day programming will precede the start of the game and is set to begin at approximately 11:40 a.m.