Box Score

LA PLUME, Pa.- The No. 2 Mighty Mac baseball team (23-20) kept their season alive yet again on Saturday afternoon with a 19-7 offensive explosion against No. 3 Neumann (20-19) to get their second victory of the day and advance to the program's first ever Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Championship game on Sunday against No. 1 Keystone.  In order to capture their first CSAC title in program history, the team will have to defeat the Giants twice to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  The first game will take place at 10 a.m. at Keystone College, and if the Mighty Macs win, the second, winner-take-all game will take place immediately following to decide the CSAC champion.
 
After eliminating Gwynedd Mercy earlier in the day in an extra inning pitcher's duel, Immaculata broke out offensively to eliminate Neumann.  The Macs tied a program record with 21 hits and scored a season-high 19 runs in the victory.  The Macs scored five runs in the first and nine in the fourth to take an insurmountable 15-0 lead into the middle innings.
 
IU had five different players with three hits in the game, as nine different Mighty Macs had hits.  Junior left fielder Jason McCormick fell a single shy of the first cycle in Immaculata history as he went 3-for-6 with a double, triple, home run, a walk, stolen base, four runs scored and four RBIs.  His 53 runs scored this season continue to extend his own program mark for runs in a season.
 
Senior centerfielder Rick DiDomenico set a program-record with seven at bats in the game, and he collected three hits, two runs scored and an RBI along the way.  Senior Mike Lascomb scored four runs as well, was hit by a pitch, walked, had an RBI and had three singles as he reached base five out of his six plate appearances.  Junior right fielder Howie Kalamets went 3-for-6 with two RBIs, a run scored and a double, and junior designated hitter Matt Simon went 3-for-4 with a run scored, two RBIs and a walk.
 
Sophomore third baseman Justin Dempsey (2-for-6, R, RBI) and sophomore second baseman Brad Misialek (2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBIs, R) each had two hits.
 
On the mound, junior Ryan Blough (4-7) did a great job in going the distance with his third complete game of the season as he saved the bullpen from being used at all.  He gave up three earned runs and struck out six on the day while walking none.
 
His 1-2-3 inning in the first with two strikeouts gave way to a big bottom of the inning for IU.  DiDomenico reached on an infield single and moved to second on a bad throw by the shortstop.  McCormick then wasted no time in giving IU the lead with a two-run home run to left field for a 2-0 IU advantage.  Lascomb singled, junior catcher Ryan Tecco (2 R, BB, RBI) walked and Kalamets made it 3-0 with runners on the corners and nobody out still.  A balk brought in the fourth run, and Simon's RBI single to centerfield made it 5-0 before Neumann recorded an out.
 
Blough then delivered a 1-2-3 shutdown inning in the second, and the Macs went right back to work.  McCormick led off with a triple, and after Lascomb was hit by a pitch, Tecco grounded into a double play, but that allowed McCormick to score for a 6-0 advantage.
 
After a scoreless third inning, Blough worked around a one-out single to set the stage for the nine-run fourth.  Fourteen Mighty Macs went to the plate with eight of them reaching by hit and two by walk.  McCormick started things with a walk and a stolen base.  He moved to third on a single to right center field by Lascomb and scored on a squeeze play by Tecco where everyone reached safely.  Following a strikeout, Simon singled through the left side to make it 8-0 with runners on first and second.  After the second strikeout of the inning, the Macs would go on to score seven two-out runs.
 
Senior shortstop Ryan Ficca (1-for-5, R, 2 RBIs, HBP) collected an RBI single and Misialek added an RBI double.  DiDomenico then hit an RBI single to the shortstop and McCormick collected his third hit of the day with a two-run double to left field to open up a 13-0 lead.  Lascomb got his second hit of the inning with an RBI single to left field and Kalamets finished off the inning with a double to left-center field to give IU a commanding 15-0 lead through four innings.
 
Neumann finally got on the board in the top of the sixth with four unearned runs, but the Macs shut down any thoughts of a comeback with three more in the sixth inning.  Lascomb, sophomore second baseman Pat Devenney (2 R, BB, HBP), and Simon all walked to load the bases with one out.  Dempsey, Ficca, and Misialek all followed with RBIs to swell the lead back up to 18-4.
 
The Macs added their 19^th run of the day on an RBI single by the first game hero, senior Rob Wallace, in the seventh.  The Knights added two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to get to the final.
 
Immaculata will now prepare for their first ever appearance in the CSAC Championship game.