Box Score

IMMACULATA, Pa.- The Immaculata baseball team (20-5) won their fifth consecutive Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) series on Monday afternoon as they topped Neumann (16-14, 10-5 CSAC) by a score of 9-6 on the strength of eight extra base hits and a strong starting effort from junior Eddie Decker.  The Mighty Macs are now tied for first place in the CSAC heading into the final two weeks of the regular season with Keystone with 13-2 records.
 
Decker moved to 5-0 on the season with six strong innings, allowing two earned runs, three total, and striking out six while allowing only four hits.
 
Offensively, the Macs had eight extra base hits out of their 14 total, and broke the game open with a six-run fourth inning.  Senior centerfielder Jason McCormick (2 SB, 2 BB, 2B, R), senior designated hitter Howie Kalamets (R, HR, 3 RBIs), junior third baseman Justin Dempsey (2 2B, 2 R), senior left fielder Matt Simon (R, RBI, 3B), senior first baseman Ryan Tecco (2 R, 2 RBI), and freshman catcher Tyler Kmiec (R, RBI, BB, 2 2B) all had two hits on the day to pace the offense.
 
Decker cruised through the first three innings, allowing only a second inning walk, which allowed the Immaculata offense to go to work.  Kmiec led off the third with a double to right-center and McCormick scored him with a double down the left field line to make it 1-0.
 
Decker allowed his first hit in the fourth, but that was the only runner that inning, and the Macs broke the game open in the fourth with six runs.
 
Dempsey laced a double to left-center to lead off the inning and Simon brought him home immediately with a triple to right center to make it 2-0.  An RBI single by Tecco made it 3-0, and three batters later, junior second baseman Pat Devenney scored him with an RBI double to right-center field.  Kalamets then delivered the big blow of the inning with a three-run home run down the left field line, his fourth of the season and 11^th of his career, to make it 7-0 through four innings.  The hit was also the 100th of his career, the ninth Mighty Mac to reach the plateau.
 
A 1-2-3 inning by Decker kept the momentum on the side of the Macs, and an RBI single through the right side by Tecco scored Dempsey who doubled to lead off the fifth to extend the lead to 8-0 through five.
 
Neumann chased Decker with three runs in the sixth, but a key insurance run by the Macs in the seventh on an RBI double by Kmiec kept them comfortably in front, 9-3, heading to the eighth.
 
The Knights got a three-run homer to cut the IU lead in half, but senior Kyle Bacher earned his ninth save of the season in the ninth to close out the 9-6 victory.
 
IU will now shift their focus to Gwynedd Mercy this weekend for a three-game series, beginning Friday at 3 p.m. at IU.