La Plume, PA – Misericordia University weathered an hour and a half rain delay and after escaping a seventh inning jam, scored three runs in the eighth before adding a pair in the ninth on their way to a 5-0 win over Keystone College in non-conference baseball action on Wednesday afternoon. The Cougars, who have been receiving votes in the national rankings throughout this season, improve to 21-6 on the season while the Giants, currently ranked 13th in the country, fall to 19-7 this spring.
Keystone loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the second inning, with a pair of singles followed by a walk, but Misericordia starter Max Weinstraub got an inning-ending strikeout to end the Giants' threat.
Cougars' centerfielder Kenny Durling made an outstanding diving catch on a ball hit to the left-centerfield gap in the home half of the third inning to deny Kevin Catherina (Ridgefield, NJ/St. Mary (Rutherford)) of an extra base hit, but Keystone's defense was just as solid in the next half inning as Giants' second baseman Jose Garcia (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Central) made a tremendous diving grab on a soft looping fly ball hit just behind second base and catcher Gabriel Molina (Bronx, NY/James Monroe) picked off a Misericordia runner at first.
Solid pitching from Keystone starter Mike Pembleton (Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean Township), who allowed just three hits in seven innings of work, along with Misericordia's Weinstraub and Anthony LeBello, who combined to yield three hits by the Giants, kept the game scoreless heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
In the home half of the frame, Lymbel Guerrero (Lynn, MA/Lynn Classical) and Ricky Riscica (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) walked to put runners on first and second with nobody out, but with Cougars' relief pitcher Evan Robaczewski completing his warm-up pitches, lighting moved into the area along with heavy rains which forced the game to be delayed by more than an hour and a half.
When play finally resumed, Robaczewski struck out a pair of batters before getting a groundout to end the inning, and Misericordia seized control by scoring three runs in the top of the eighth inning. Following a pair of singles and a wild pitch, Ryan Cacchioli hit an RBI single to right field and with the bases loaded, Steve Sulcoski hit and RBI single to center. With runners on the corners, the Cougars plated their third run of the inning as the runner on third scored during a rundown with the base runner at first.
Domenick Montanaro (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township) led off the Giants' eighth with a double, but was stranded their and Misericordia scored two runs on a pair of Keystone errors to hold a 5-0 lead before Robaczewski pitched retired the hosts in order in the ninth to close out the victory.
Robaczewski improved to 6-1 on the season after taking the win with three scoreless innings and five strikeouts for the Cougars, with Montanaro giving the Giants their lone base runner in the final three innings.
Pembleton took a no-decision despite allowing just three hits and striking out six in seven innings of work. Justin Martinez (Bronx, NY/Clifton) was charged with the loss after yielding three runs on three hits to go along with one K in 0.1 innings of work while Adam Krebs (Commack, NY/Commack) pitched the final 1.2 innings for Keystone while surrendering a pair of unearned runs on two hits and two walks while fanning a pair of Misericordia batters.
Montanaro, Molina, Riscica, and Rick McLaughlin (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) accounted for the Giants' four hits on the day as Misericordia held a slim, 6-4 advantage in hits in the contest.
Keystone will return to action on Friday with a Colonial States Athletic Conference doubleheader to be played at Marywood University. The Giants will be the home team in both games, with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in Scranton. The two teams will complete their three-game regular season series on Saturday with a nine-inning, single game to be played the newly renovated PNC Field in Moosic, PA as part of the Bill Howerton Inaugural Strikeout Cancer Weekend featuring local high school and college teams playing games at the both PNC Field and Keystone's Christy Mathewson Field.
