Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College baseball team dropped both ends of a Centennial Conference doubleheader to Muhlenberg College on Saturday, as the Mules won 4-0 in the opener and 14-9 in the nightcap.
After starting the season 6-2 in the Centennial Conference, Gettysburg (14-17, 6-6 CC) has lost its last four conference games. Muhlenberg (16-13, 7-5 CC) won for the fifth time in its last six Centennial outings.
Senior Mike Donohue (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) led the Bullets at the plate, going 3-for-6 with three doubles and four RBIs over the twinbill.
In a pitching-dominated opener, the Bullets were stymied by Mule starter Phil Cresta, who tossed a three-hit shutout in the seven-inning game. Cresta (5-2) allowed all three hits over the first three innings, and he yielded only a pair of walks while facing one over the minimum over the final four frames. He finished with three strikeouts.
Muhlenberg provided Cresta all the run support he would need when Eric Hammond laid down the first of his two suicide squeeze bunts in the game that made it 1-0 in the top of the third. The Mules added single runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh against Bullet starter Michael Sweeney (Bethesda, Md./St. Anselm's Abbey School), who went the distance.
Christian Conti finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and his conference-leading 10th triple of the season to lead Muhlenberg in the opener. Sweeney (1-2) held the Mules to six hits and two earned runs while walking one and fanning two.
The second game was the complete opposite of the opener, with the two teams combining for 28 hits and eight errors. With the game tied 1-1, the Mules broke it open with a six-run, seven-hit second against sophomore starter John Antrim-Cashin (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Fordham Prep) and freshman reliever Matt Karis (Southborough, Mass./Noble & Greenough School).
Muhlenberg extended its lead to 9-2 following a four-run fifth that included three Gettysburg errors. But the Bullets chipped away at the lead, scoring twice in the bottom of the inning on one hit and two errors to make it 11-4. The Mules added a single run in the sixth to push its advantage to 12-4.
Gettysburg got back into it with a five-run sixth in which the Bullets batted around. Freshman Chris Simard (Lexington, Mass./Belmont Hill) drove in a run with a single before Donohue, batting cleanup for the first time since early in the season, ripped a two-run double three batters later, making it 12-6 and knocking starter Matthew Ordog out of the game. Sophomore Kevin Langhauser (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) then greeted reliever Mark Shive with a RBI-single before senior Dave Olson (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) completed the big inning with a run-scoring single of his own.
After Shive got out of the sixth with a groundout, the Mules called on submarining Joseph Barrese out of the bullpen. Barrese went on to shut out Gettysburg over the final three innings, allowing only a walk in the eighth and a pair of infield hits in the ninth. With runners on the corners, Barrese induced a game-ending 6-3 double play to pick up his third save of the year.
Langhauser finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs in the nightcap while Donohue was 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs, and four RBIs. Olson and junior Scott Vladyka (Stanhope, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) added two hits apiece. Dan Fisher led Muhlenberg, going 3-for-4 with three runs out of the No. 9 spot while Hammond, the leadoff hitter, was 3-for-5.
Ordog (5-2) surrendered eight runs (five earned) on nine hits over 5 2/3. Antrim-Cashin (0-2), making his second start of the season, went 1 2/3, allowing six runs on six hits and a pair of walks. Karis worked 7 1/3 innings, holding the Mules to eight hits while walking two and striking out three. Only two of his eight runs were earned.
Gettysburg continues its Centennial Conference schedule on Tuesday, when it hosts Franklin & Marshall at 3:30 p.m.
