BOX SCORE

IMMACULATA, Pa.- Immaculata baseball (13-17, 4-11 CSAC) went into today's mid-week CSAC matchup looking to win the season series from No. 14 Keystone (29-7, 17-1 CSAC), but the Giants broke a late tie in the eighth inning and held on for the 5-4 victory.  The Mighty Macs battled back against Rob Rogers, one of the top pitchers in the conference, to tie the game at 4-4 in the sixth, but Keystone scored an eighth inning run to break the tie.
 
In the eighth, Gabby Molina doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt.  After a strikeout by junior pitcher Bryan McHale (3-4) for the second out, a balk was called that allowed Molina to score with the eventual winning run.
 
The Mighty Macs got a runner on in the ninth, but were unable to advance further than that as they were unable to come back.
 
Keystone got the scoring started in the top of the first with three unearned runs as the first three runners reached base against senior pitcher Aaron Dietrich to give the Giants a 3-0 advantage after one half inning.
 
The Mighty Macs were ready with a response as they scored two of their own to cut the lead to 3-2 after one inning of play.  Sophomore right fielder Matthew Lawson (1-for-3, RBI, R, BB) led off the inning with a double down the left field line and moved to third base on a one out single by junior second baseman Elijah Vottero (2-for-5, R).  Junior shortstop Joe DiGiaimo (2-for-5, R, RBI) then hit an infield single to score Lawson for the first run.  After a groundout put two runners in scoring position with two outs, freshman third baseman Robert Wallace (3-for-4, RBI, 2 SB) laid down a perfect bunt single to bring home Vottero with the second run.
 
After giving up three in the first, Dietrich settled down nicely and didn't surrender any runs over the next three innings.  He picked two runners off and got a nice diving play in centerfield from junior Billy Gaines (0-for-3, RBI).
 
After Immaculata was unable to score Wallace from third base with less than two outs after he led off with a single, Keystone extended their lead to 4-2 with a sacrifice fly midway through the fourth.
 
Dietrich went five solid innings surrendering four runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out two.
 
In the sixth, Immaculata battled back with two runs to tie the game 4-4.  DiGiaimo singled to lead off the inning and made it to third with two outs.  Senior pinch hitter T.J. Warner (0-for-1, R, BB) then walked and freshman catcher Rick DiDomenico (0-for-3, HBP) was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Gaines was then hit by a pitch to score one run and Lawson walked to bring home the tying run.
 
After striking out the side in the sixth inning, freshman pitcher Nicholas Campione hit the first two batters of the seventh and they moved into scoring position after stolen bases.  Campione then struck out a batter, and after the next hitter reached safely, the freshman induced an inning ending double play to keep the game tied.
 
NOTES: Vottero reached for 20^th straight game with his first inning single, the longest streak on the team this season … Immaculata was the only team to top Keystone in conference play this season.