Box Score

IMMACULATA, Pa.- The No. 2 Mighty Mac baseball team (21-20) hosted No. 3 Neumann (20-17) on Thursday afternoon at the IU Baseball Field in the opener of the four-team, double-elimination Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Tournament, and the Macs led most of the way and took a one-run lead to the late innings, but a ninth inning run by the Knights broke a 3-3 tie giving Neumann a 4-3 victory over the Macs.
 
Immaculata will now face No. 4 Gwynedd Mercy in an elimination game tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. at Marywood University while Neumann moves on to play No. 1 Keystone in the winner's bracket final after Keystone defeated Gwynedd Mercy, 7-3.
 
Sophomore Trevor O'Brien was outstanding for the Macs, holding the Knights to two hits over 7 1/3 innings pitched, but Neumann got to the bullpen late to give them the victory.
 
O'Brien cruised through the top of the first with a 1-2-3 inning, and the Macs jumped out front with a run in their half of the first.  Senior first baseman Mike Lascomb (1-for-3, 2 R, RBI, HBP) singled through the right side and moved to second base on a walk by junior catcher Ryan Tecco (1-for-3, RBI, 2B, BB).  Following a fielder's choice, junior right fielder Howie Kalamets (1-for-4, RBI) lined an RBI single up the middle to give IU an early lead.
 
O'Brien got through the second unscathed thanks to a great catch in left field by junior Jason McCormick.
 
Neumann tied the game in the third with a two-out RBI single, but O'Brien got more help from his defense again as senior center fielder Chuck Wyckoff made a diving catch in left center to save extra bases.
 
The Macs took the lead back in the bottom of the third when Lascomb was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch, to third on a passed ball, and came around to score on an RBI double to center field by Tecco.
 
Neumann's Kristian DeLuzio and O'Brien each put up scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth and the game remained 2-1 in IU's favor.
 
In the sixth, the good defense continued as senior shortstop Ryan Ficca snared a one-hopper to get the final out of the inning, and after DeLuzio silenced the Macs in their half, McCormick made two more good running catches in left center field and O'Brien struck out the final hitter to keep IU in front 2-1 through seven.
 
Neumann put together their best threat of the day in the top of the eighth as they put runners on first and second with one out.  The Macs turned to junior Ryan Blough who got a fly out on the first pitch he threw for the second out of the inning.  Blough then attempted to pick the runner off at first base, but his throw got away allowing the runner from second to come around and score the tying run.  The next hitter then singled up the middle to put the Knights ahead 3-2.
 
O'Brien went 7 1/3 innings, but allowed only one earned run and two hits while striking out two.
 
The Macs wasted no time tying the game back up as Wyckoff (2-for-3, R) lined his second single of the game to right-center field and McCormick (1-for-4, 2B) doubled to left-center to put two in scoring position with nobody out.  After a pitching change, Lascomb hit an RBI groundout to shortstop to tie the game at 3-3.  The Macs put runners on the corners with two outs for Kalamets, who lined a ball to center field, but it hung up and the centerfielder caught it to send the game to the ninth tied.
 
Neumann would re-take the lead in their half of the ninth as they pulled off a two-strike suicide squeeze to take a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
 
In their final at bat, the Macs went down in order and will now need to play their way back into the tournament through elimination games.  That starts tomorrow with a 10:30 a.m. game against Gwynedd Mercy at Marywood University.