PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. --- Senior left fielder Justin Pilchman was 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of RBIs and sophomore hurler Nicolas Ampietro allowed just an unearned run and struck out four batters as the Moravian College baseball team opened its 2015 season with a 5-2 win over No. 18 Webster (Mo.) University at the Snowbird Classic Saturday afternoon.
The Greyhounds, who received votes in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25 Poll that Webster was ranked in, had seven hits in the game and would get RBIs from senior shortstop Colin Case and junior first baseman Charles Savite Ampietro tossed seven innings for the Hounds and allowed a walk and five hits, leaving with a 5-1 lead.
The Gorlocks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, capitalizing on an error by Moravian, which had traveled all night by bus to Florida after the team's flight was cancelled on Friday due to the weather Thursday making the aircraft unavailable.
As they did throughout most of 2014, the Greyhounds responded in the bottom of the third inning with a pair of runs to take a lead that they wouldn't relinquish. Pilchman led off with a single and junior catcher Mike Roethke followed with a single. Pilchman knotted the score at 1-1 when he crossed the plate on an error by Webster off the bat of senior second baseman Alex Longernecker After a sacrifice bunt by sophomore center fielder Anthony Gaetaniello, Case connected on an RBI sacrifice fly to plate Roethke with the go-ahead run.
The Greyhounds pushed their lead to 4-1 with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the sixth frame. Senior right field Matt Hanson led off with a single before Savite reached on an error. After an out, junior pinch hitter Alex Bull hit a ground out to move the runners up. Pilchman followed with a two-RBI single on a full count pitch to chase Hanson and Savite home.
Moravian added an insurance run on the bottom of the seventh. Case doubled with one out and after a wild pitch moved him to third, Hanson was intentionally walked. Savite ripped an RBI single to score Case.
The Gorloks added a run in the top of the eighth inning before freshman relief pitcher Ryan Kahn shut the door to seal the win. Kahn allowed a run on two hits with one walk and one strikeout in his collegiate debut.
The Greyhounds will get right back to action with another nationally-ranked opponent as the squad takes on No. 12 Marietta (Ohio) College on Sunday, March 8 at 10:00 a.m. in the Snowbird Classic.