Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa.- The Immaculata baseball team (22-7) kept plugging along on Sunday as they won their sixth straight Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) series by splitting a doubleheader against Gwynedd Mercy (21-12-1, 11-7 CSAC) by scores of 5-0 and 8-5 to improve their team record CSAC mark to 15-3.  The Mighty Macs remain tied atop the CSAC standings with Keystone and will play the Giants in a three-game series next weekend with the winner claiming the top spot for the conference tournament.
 
In today's opener, the Macs struggled to get going in the opener as they were shutout for the first time all year, and the second game saw Gwynedd Mercy take a 4-0 lead after the first inning, but IU stormed back with the next eight runs and won the rubber match.
 
In the opener, junior Ryan Blough (6-2) scattered four hits over four innings and struck out four, but was done in by six walks and allowed all five Griffin runs.  At the plate, senior shortstop Ryan Ficca had two hits, which accounted for half the IU knocks in the opener.
 
The Macs had two runners on base just once, and that was in the first inning with two outs, but a flyout off the bat senior first baseman Ryan Tecco (1-for-3, SB) ended that threat.  The Griffins wasted no time getting on the board with two in the bottom of their inning for the early advantage.
 
Senior centerfielder Jason McCormick led off the third with a single, and Tecco did the same in the fourth, but to no avail as IU was unable to get anything going.  The Griffins added three more in the fifth off Blough before sophomore Billy Manzo came on to toss two scoreless frames of relief.  However, the Macs never threatened and fell in the opener.
 
In the second game, junior pitcher Eddie Decker (6-0) tied Blough with his sixth win of the season as he went the distance and allowed four earned runs while striking out two and scattering nine hits.  The Mighty Mac bats came alive in the second game, again led by senior shortstop Ryan Ficca with three hits, two runs scored, two RBIs and a stolen base.  Senior leftfielder Matt Simon (2 RBI, 2B, SB, BB) and Tecco (2 RBI, R, HR) each had two hits in a much more balanced effort.
 
The Griffins threatened to blow the game open early as they strung together five straight hits and scored four runs in the first to make it 4-0 through the first.
 
Tecco struck a big blow in the second with his second home run of the season to lead off the frame, and after Decker used a double play to get out of the second inning, the Mac offense tied the game in the third with two outs.
 
Senior designated hitter Howie Kalamets (R, BB) walked with two outs, and Ryan Ficca singled him to second before a two-run double to left-center by Simon made it 4-3.  Tecco delivered his second big hit of the game with a single to right to tie the game.
 
Decker then put together back-to-back 1-2-3 innings to send the game tied to the fifth when the Macs took the lead for good.
 
Ryan Ficca and Simon hit back-to-back singles before doing a double steal, and both scored on wild pitches to make it 6-4.
 
IU tacked on two pivotal insurance runs in the sixth with a two-run single by Ryan Ficca and they extended their lead to 8-4.
 
The Griffins got one unearned run in the seventh, but Decker closed out the CSAC victory.
 
The Macs will open the pivotal series against the Giants on Friday with a 3 p.m. home game at the IU Baseball Field.  Immaculata will celebrate Senior Day prior to the game.