Box Score

IMMACULATA, Pa.- For the second consecutive year, the Immaculata baseball team (23-11) entered the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) as the No. 2 seed and hosted No. 3 Neumann (21-16), and the Knights raced out to an early 8-0 lead and the Macs never recovered in a 10-2 defeat.  The Macs will now face No. 4 Gwynedd Mercy in an elimination game on Friday at 3 p.m. at PNC Field in Scranton.
 
Junior Trevor O'Brien (5-3) got the start on the mound and surrendered three first inning runs, and following a 1-2-3 inning by the Macs in the first, Neumann added three more to take a 6-0 lead early on.  Sophomore reliever Zach Smiley came on in relief of O'Brien in the second to escape further trouble.
 
The Knights added two more in the third to build a commanding 8-0 lead, but the Mighty Macs got on the board in their half of the third to cut into the deficit.  Senior centerfielder Jason McCormick (1-for-3, R, HBP) was hit by a pitch with one out, and senior designated hitter Howie Kalamets (1-for-4, R, 2 RBIs, HR) followed that with his fifth home run of the season with a line drive to the netting in centerfield to make it 8-2 through three innings.
 
Smiley did a good job keeping the Knights off the board in the next two innings, and in the fifth McCormick singled and Kalamets reached on an error to put two on with one out, but a line drive to the first baseman was caught and Kalamets was doubled off to end the threat.
 
Smiley ran into some trouble in the sixth as the Knights got a run and had runners on the corners with nobody out when sophomore Billy Manzo came on in relief and he struck out the first hitter before a double play ball ended the inning with the score 9-2.
 
Smiley went four innings and allowed four runs while striking out three.
 
Manzo threw a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, but freshman Greg Grandelli surrendered a run in the eighth to make it 10-2.  The Macs had one final threat in the eighth when senior first baseman Ryan Tecco (1-for-4) singled and junior third baseman Justin Dempsey (1-for-4) did as well, but a fly out ended the inning.
 
The Knights put the finish touches on the CSAC postseason victory, and the Macs will have to battle through the loser's bracket in search of their first CSAC title.