Connell, Mariano Lead Greyhounds Past Drew
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Senior pitcher Thomas Mariano recorded his 100th career strikeout and senior outfielder Joseph Connell hit his 30th career double as the Moravian College baseball team finally finished a three-game Landmark Conference series with visiting Drew University as the Greyhounds posted a 5-2 win at Gillespie Field Tuesday.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Senior pitcher Thomas Mariano recorded his 100th career strikeout and senior outfielder Joseph Connell hit his 30th career double as the Moravian College baseball team finally finished a three-game Landmark Conference series with visiting Drew University as the Greyhounds posted a 5-2 win at Gillespie Field Tuesday.
The Greyhounds improve to 19-5 overall and 10-2 in Landmark action after taking two of three game from Drew in a series that saw the doubleheader played back on March 21.
"It was a good game, and I think we hit the ball a little bit better than it shows," stated Head Coach Paul Engelhardt. "You want to win your conference games and we came out and did that today."
Mariano evened his record at 2-2 on the season after allowing two runs on five hits while striking out four batters for a career total of 101 strikeouts. Mariano is 13th pitcher in the Moravian record books, and he is the third member of Moravian's senior class to hit the milestone, joining Rob Solano and Chris Soltys, who picked up his third save of the season after striking out the side in the ninth.
"I'm proud of Tommy since he's persevered through four years," Engelhardt said. "He's a complete program guy. He just goes out and pitches, and he can throw all three of his pitches for strikes. It was nice to see him go eight innings today."
Connell had a pair of doubles in the game while going 2-for-4 at the plate, and he is now fifth player in school history to hit 30 doubles in a career. Junior outfielder Matt Hanson was also 2-for-4 for Moravian while junior outfielder Justin Pilchman went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs as the Greyhounds had an 11-5 advantage in hits.
"Joey's earned a few hits like he had today with the injury that he's been dealing with," Engelhardt explained. "He keeps competing. Joey does a great job in center field taking hits away, and I'd like to see him get a little success at the plate. He's had a couple of line drive outs over the last week so it was nice to see a few fall in today down the left field line for doubles."
The Greyhounds scored all five of their runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Junior shortstop Colin Case led off with a single and scored on an RBI single by Hanson. Sophomore first baseman Charles Savite connected on an RBI triple past a diving center fielder to score Hanson from first. Senior catcher Matthew Gutkes followed with an RBI single to plate Savite. After Connell's first double, Pilchman ripped a two-RBI single to clear the bases.
Mariano would reach the 100-strikeout plateau on the first batter in the top of the seventh on his third punch of the game.
The Rangers broke up the shutout bid in the top of the eighth with two runs but Soltys would come in for the save. Soltys is 5-0 on the year with three saves and a 0.33 ERA in 10 appearances.
"Chris has been great all year, and we want to get him into every game that we can," Engelhardt said of his closer. "He's been our best pitcher hands down both long and short. It was nice to get him in there for the one inning save, and it was the perfect situation for him."
Moravian's next game was moved a day later and the Greyhounds will host rival Muhlenberg College on Thursday, April 10 in a 4:00 p.m. Matte Award contest at Gillespie Field.
