WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Marymount University baseball team remained hot on Saturday afternoon, moving to 5-1 in Atlantic East Conference play with a clean twin-bill sweep of Marywood University at Nationals Youth Baseball Academy. The Saints are now 9-2 in their last 11 games.
Game 1: Marymount 5, Marywood 3
An early home run by the Pacers put them up 1-0 in the first inning, but sophomore Ryan Bergenhagen settled in on the mound through five innings, tossing 80 pitches for six strikeouts and giving up just two runs.
The Saints were quiet on the scoreboard until the fifth inning when they were trailing 2-0, until they erupted for five runs in the bottom of the frame to take a lead that would hold the rest of the way. All of the runs were unearned, as a fielding error by the Pacer third baseman scored junior Mike Ferrara, a balk scored senior Luke Tyree, and a two-RBI single by freshman Ryan Lee brought around senior Michael Wade and freshman David Kurzrock.
Senior Conner Hall moved over from shortstop to the bump for the final two innings, only allowing one baserunner on a hit-by-pitch, while striking out three and not allowing a hit to earn his three save of the season.
Game 2: Marymount 19, Marywood 10
Similar to game one, the Pacers put the first run on the board in the first inning. But it didn't take as long for the Saints to respond, sending across four runs in the bottom of the inning to take a lead that wouldn't change the rest of the way.
Kurzrock, sophomore Casey Baker, sophomore James DiGiulian, and Ferrara each registered a RBI in the inning, as Kurzrock and Baker each singled, and DiGiulian walked and Ferrara was hit by a pitch on bases-loaded situations.
Marywood inched back into the game with two runs in the third and one more in the fourth, but another four-run inning in the fourth for Marymount escalated the score to 8-4. Lee walked on with bases loaded for his first RBI of the game before DiGiulian cleared the bases with a three-RBI double to right centerfield.
The Pacers remained consistent with scoring in consecutive innings, scoring one run in the fifth and another in the sixth, but they were not nearly enough for the massive innings the Saints registered. By the bottom of the sixth, Marymount put across seven more runs on seven hits, but two of the runs scored on a fielding error to spark the seven-run inning. Lee sent a shot to the shortstop who mishandled the ball to score Wade and senior Austin Sizemore.
That followed with six more hits including RBI singles by Ferrara, Kurzrock and Wade, while Hall sent a shot to the fence in centerfield for a two-RBI double.
A 15-6 lead for the Saints was slimmed down to a five-run advantage, as the Pacers answered with four more runs over the course of two innings, but the bottom of the eighth brought around four more runs to take a commanding 19-10 lead that put the final touch on the game. Senior Nick Smutko and Ferrara each laced two-RBI doubles for the four runs.
Seven different Saints combined for eight strikeouts on the mound for Marymount, while junior Kenny Sysyn earned the win. Coming out of the bullpen first, he went two innings for just one earned run and a strikeout through 13 batters.
Marymount hits the road for a heavy test on Wednesday, April 3, traveling to Newport New, Virginia for a battle against the top-ranked team in the nation, Christopher Newport University. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.