MADISON (Nj.) – The Delaware Valley University baseball team scored 15 runs on 22 hits over two games to earn a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom doubleheader sweep at FDU-Florham. The Aggies overcame a four-run deficit to win 9-8 in the opener and rallied in the final inning of game two for another come-from-behind victory, 6-2.
The two wins improved the Green and Gold to 6-10 in league play (12-16 overall) with eight conference games remaining. The Aggies are just a half game back of Wilkes for the fifth and final playoff spot.
DelVal sent Dalton Moore to the mound to start game one and the senior was effective in earning his fifth win of the season. He allowed four runs, three earned, with five hits, two strikeouts and two walks.
He held the Devils (7-22, 4-11 MAC Freedom) to three hits through three innings until they broke through in the fourth. The first two runners got on with a walk and a single, and a sacrifice bunt moved them into scoring position. Jimmy Finnerty followed with a two-RBI double to open the scoring. Finnerty later scored on a sacrifice fly, and FDU tacked on an unearned run to make it 4-0 after four.
DelVal responded in the next half inning with six runs on seven hits and an error. Garrett Zimmerman and Nick Koch got the rally started with base hits and Liam Martin reached on an error to load the bases for James Miskanic. Miskanic drove one in with an infield single and Nate Rice followed with another RBI. From there, the Aggies two-through-four hitters delivered four straight RBI singles to take a 6-4 lead.
The rally continued into the sixth when Martin, Miskanic, and Rice loaded the bases again, and the heart of the lineup came through once more. Drews reached a milestone during the run with an RBI single for his 100th career hit and Sean Gledhill picked up his second RBI in as many innings. The Aggies took a 9-4 lead into the seventh.
After giving up four runs on four hits and a walk, including two doubles, DelVal called upon first-year Ryan Ness to get the final out of the game and he got Gabe Francisco to ground out to third base to earn the save and the 9-8 win.
The Aggies racked up 13 hits led by a 3-for-4 effort from Jonathan Drews and multi-hit games from Koch and Miskanic. Miskanic finished with two runs scored, an RBI, and a walk.
Finnerty paced FDU with three hits, a walk, three RBI, and a run scored. Nick Rizos suffered the loss with five runs, four earned, and six hits against.
Junior Ethan Saxe to the mound in game two and was stellar as he held the Devils to just one run on two hits before coming out of the game in the fifth inning with DelVal trailing, 1-0. Saxe allowed no earned runs and struck out three batters while walking three. First-year Orion Fraley was equally as good in the final two innings of work as he allowed just one run on three hits.
The Aggies bats had six hits through the first six innings but could not get on the scoreboard as they trailed 2-0 headed to the seventh.
Once again, it was Zimmerman, Koch, and Martin got the rally started. Zimmerman led off with a double down the left field line, Koch was hit by a pitch, and Martin bunted for a single to load the bases with nobody out. Three more hit batters, a wild pitch, and a fielder's choice led to the Aggies taking a 4-2 lead. Gledhill later delivered an RBI single and DelVal tacked on one more thanks to an error to give Fraley a four-run lead headed to the bottom of the seventh. A 5-4-3 double play and a groundout to third with the bases loaded helped Fraley and the Aggies hold on for their second win of the day, 6-2.
Drews had another three this and upped his days totals to 6-for-7 (.857) with two RBI. Gledhill and Marin each had two hits.
DelVal baseball will look to complete the season-sweep when it hosts the Devils on Sunday, April 16th at noon.
