Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

IMMACULATA, Pa.- The Immaculata baseball team opened up a three-game Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) series with a doubleheader at home against Gwynedd Mercy on Thursday afternoon, and behind strong efforts on the mound, the Mighty Macs (8-7, 3-2 CSAC) earned a sweep over the Griffins (3-9, 3-2 CSAC) by scores of 3-2 and 4-2.
 
In the opener, freshman Trevor O'Brien (1-1) earned the win with 6 1/3 innings of work, giving up five hits and two runs before giving way to sophomore Kenny Anderson who earned his first save of the year by getting the only two hitters he faced.  In game two, sophomore Mike Campisano threw five innings, giving up just two runs, before freshman Eddie Decker (1-0) and freshman Collin Stringham pitched one shutout inning each, as the Immaculata staff gave up just four runs in the 14 innings of play on the day.
 
Offensively, junior left fielder Rob Wallace had five hits on the day to lead the Macs and sophomore right fielder Howie Kalamets delivered the game-winner in the second game to break a 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh.
 
In the first game, the Macs got on the board first as junior shortstop Ryan Ficca (1-for-3, R, BB, 2 SB) walked with one out, stole second, and then with two outs, he swiped third and the catcher's throw went into left field allowing him to score the first run of the game.
 
O'Brien ran into some trouble in the second inning, as the first two hitters reached and were bunted into scoring position.  With one out, the Griffins got an RBI single and sacrifice fly to take a 2-1 lead, but those would be the only runs O'Brien would allow all day as he worked around a walk in the third and a hit batter in the fourth to keep the Macs within one run.
 
IU would finally take advantage in the top of the fifth when sophomore second baseman Jason McCormick reached on an error by the left fielder and moved to second on a single by Ficca.  McCormick came around to score the tying run on a single through the left side by junior center fielder Rick DiDomenico (1-for-4, RBI).
 
In the Griffins' half of the fifth, O'Brien used a line-drive double play and a groundout to keep the game tied, and the Macs would take the lead in their half of the sixth.
 
Kalamets (R, HBP, SB) was hit by a pitch and stole second to put himself in scoring position with nobody out.  Senior designated hitter Matt Lawson then hit a line drive back to the pitcher that bounced off his glove and as he collected the ball, he made a bad throw to first base which allowed Kalamets to come around and score the go-ahead run.
 
O'Brien pitched a perfect sixth and took a 3-2 lead into the seventh when he gave up a lead-off double.  After a sacrifice bunt, the Mighty Macs brought in Anderson to try and get the two out save with a man on third.  Anderson delivered in a big way as he got a strike out for the second out of the inning and closed out the win with a line-out to left.
 
The pitching continued to be spot on in game two, but this time it was junior Mike Campisano's (1-0) turn to throw well for the Macs.  He allowed just one hit through the first three innings and worked out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth, which gave the IU offense a chance to take the early lead.
 
The Macs got started in the second when Ryan Ficca (1-for-2, R, BB, SB) singled to left and moved to second on a passed ball, following a strikeout, Ficca swiped third to put himself 90 feet away with one out.  Sophomore catcher Dom Ficca (2-for-3, RBI) then laced a single up the middle to put the Macs up 1-0.
 
They added to their lead in the fifth as McCormick (2-for-4, R) singled and moved to second on an error on a pickoff throw by the first baseman.  DiDomenico (1-for-4, R, SB) followed with a single to left, but McCormick was gunned down at the plate trying to score.  DiDomenico then stole third with one out, and after a wild pitch he came home to score and put IU up 2-0 through four and a half innings.
 
The Griffins finally broke through against Campisano as a lead-triple and back-to-back RBI singles tied the game, but Campisano limited the damage by getting out of a first and second, two-out jam.
 
After the Mighty Macs couldn't come up with a run in the sixth, Decker kept the game tied 2-2 with a clean bottom of the frame, aided by a nice running grab by DiDomenico in center field.
 
In the seventh, IU came up with a big two-out, two-run rally to take a two-run lead.  Following a fly-out, McCormick singled to right, and after a pop out, Wallace (3-for-4, R) singled to right center to put runners on the corners with two outs.  Wallace then stole second, which set up Kalamets (1-for-4, RBI, SB) with two runners in scoring position.  He came up big with a single through the right side that scored McCormick and after an errant throw home, Wallace was able to slide in safely to give IU the two-run cushion at 4-2.
 
In the seventh, Stringham came on to get the save and he delivered.  After giving up a lead-off double, he got two fly outs to left around a strikeout for the 4-2 win and sweep of Gwynedd Mercy.
 
The Mighty Macs will look to complete the three-game sweep of the Griffins on Tuesday afternoon when they host Gwynedd Mercy at 3 p.m. at the IU Baseball Field.