HOBOKEN (Nj.) – The Delaware Valley University baseball team earned a four-hit shutout in the opening game of a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom doubleheader at Stevens Institute of Technology, but did not have enough in game two as the Ducks claimed an 8-4 victory.
The Aggies moved to 7-8 overall and 1-5 in MAC Freedom play while Stevens improved to 15-7 overall and 4-2.
Junior Dalton Moore got the start in the opener that was moved to a 10 a.m. start due to forecasted weather conditions on Sunday. Moore was tremendous in five innings of work and allowed just three hits and six base runners while allowing no runs and punching out two. The biggest threat came in the bottom of the fifth after a single, a walk, and a double steal put runners at second and third for the home team with two outs. The next batter was three-hole hitter Ryan Wall and Moore got him to ground out to the first basemen, Hank Bielen.
Bielen provided the offense for DelVal as he went 4-for-4 at the dish and drove in both runs. In the third he hit an RBI single that scored Andrew Panfile, and in the final frame he sent one back up the middle that plated Timmy Lallis.
Reliever Ridge Watson earned the save for the Aggies with two innings of one-hit ball as he struck out four of the six batters he faced and picked off a base runner.
DelVal racked up 11 hits in the game and left nine runners on base. Jonathan Drews and Gage Ambruster each pitched in two hits.
In game two, the Ducks built a 6-0 lead after three innings thanks to nine hits while holding the visitors hitless through three. Stevens threatened for more in the fourth as it loaded the bases with just one out, but a pair of fly balls kept it a six-run game.
The Aggies rallied back in the top of the sixth with four runs on three hits and two Stevens' errors. Lallis got things started with a one-out walk and two batters later, Kenny Tunison hit a double to left field that scored Lallis and Bielen. A single off the bat of Drews and an error in center field allowed Tunison to score and make it a 6-3 game. With Drews at third base, Zimmerman hit a ground ball to first and Drews tried to score but was thrown out at the plate. Two batters later, Tyler Mellinger sent a single back up the middle for an RBI to make it a two-run game.
The Ducks responded with a two-run home run off the bat of Sutton Dole in the bottom of the sixth and held the Aggies to one base runner in the seventh to secure the 8-4 win.
Cole Holsinger suffered the loss on the mound after allowing three earned runs and five hits in two innings.
Stevens combined for 17 hits in the game led by three hits apiece from Thomas Paulich and Evan Pravato. Paulich added two RBI and three runs scored. Ryan Shea earned the win on the mound with five hits allowed and seven strikeouts through 5.2 innings. Jacob Burman pitched the final 1.1 innings and did not allow a hit.
Offensively for DelVal, four different players recorded a hit including Mellinger who was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
