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Box Score 2 DOYLESTOWN (PA) – DeSales University clinched the top spot in this year's Freedom Conference tournament as the Bulldogs swept a pair of game at Delaware Valley University, 4-0 and 8-2.
The wins improved DeSales to 24-12 overall and 18-2 in the conference while the Aggies fell to 10-21 and 2-16. Both teams have one, three-game Freedom series remaining with Delaware Valley's coming against King's College on Thursday and Saturday. The Aggies also have a non-conference doubleheader with the University of Valley Forge prior to that on Tuesday.
Sunday's opener featured a pitching battle between Delaware Valley's
Trevor Dalton and the Bulldogs' Adam Donovan. Neither allowed a hit through the first three innings. DeSales got a hit in the fourth on a single by Hunter Hurt while
Kyle Wenger and
Corey White had base knocks for the Aggies in the bottom of the stanza.
Delaware Valley had a golden opportunity in the fifth as it loaded the bases with no outs and the top of its batting order coming up. However, Donovan got back-to-back strikeouts and a ground out to end the threat.
DeSales then loaded the bases with one out in the sixth and was able to convert it into four runs in the inning. Carlos Urena drew a walk to bring in one and Colby Kulig followed with a two-run double. Conner Lafferty then hit a sacrifice fly for the fourth run.
Donovan finished with a four-hit shutout. He walked four and fanned five. Dalton went six innings and allowed the four runs on just four hits.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early, 5-0 lead in the nightcap thanks to three runs in the first and two in the second. Lafferty drove in all the runs in the first with a two-out, bases-clearing double.
Delaware Valley got its first run of the day in the thirst as
Liam Constantine singled, moved to third on a
Cayton Curtis double and scored on a
Kevin Crill base hit. DeSales added two in fifth while the Aggies, on an RBI single from Wenger, got one in their half of the inning. The Bulldogs picked up their final tally in the seventh for the 8-2 final.
Lafferty was 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and four RBI. Eric Elmer allowed just one earned run over five innings of work for the win.
Curtis was 2-for-3 while five other Aggies had one hit apiece.
Jeremy Hefele went four-plus innings and took the loss.
