IMMACULATA, Pa.- The Immaculata baseball team returned to action on Monday afternoon for a doubleheader against Wesley College to open Atlantic East play. In the first game of the twinbill, Wesley scored the first runs of the contest but it was Immaculata who picked up the victory rolling to a 12-3 victory over the Wolverines in the series opening game before taking the nightcap by a final of 9-3 to win the season series over Wesley.

Game One: Immaculata 12 Wesley 3

In the top of the first, Wesley jumped out to an early lead scoring a pair of runs on four hits to take a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the first.

In the home half of the first, Josh Crowding delivered a two-out triple to center field, which sparked the Immaculata offense as Richard Fontanillas doubled him home to cut the deficit to 2-1. Fontanillas came around to score on an RBI single into right field off the bat of Joey Wright to even the score at 2-2 while also allowing the Macs to continue to threaten. Isaiah Payton followed this up with a line-drive single into left to put runners on first and second with two outs. From this point, Wesley was able to tight rope out of danger, sending the score to the second even at 2-2.

In the bottom of the second, Steven Theisen started the inning off with a triple into the right-center field gap, which would later allow him to score on a Sacrifice Fly off the bat of Frank Margiotta to give Immaculata a 3-2 lead. Immaculata extended its lead to 4-2 thanks to an RBI triple off the bat of Tyler Kmiec, which scored Giancarlo Palmieri who had reached via a hit by pitch earlier in the inning. An RBI groundout off the bat of Crowding allowed Kmiec to cross the plate moments later, thus, further extending the Macs lead to 5-2 heading to the top of the third.

In the home half of the third, Immaculata extended its lead as RJ Mason came through with a two-RBI double down the left field line to give Immaculata a 7-1 lead. Immaculata further extended its lead following defensive miscues by the Wolverines to score its eighth run of the contest before an RBI single from Marigotta gave the Macs a commanding 9-2 lead with no outs in the inning. Kmiec followed this up with his second triple of the day to drive home another two runs as Margiotta and Palmieri each scampered home to give the Macs an 11-2 advantage. This also closed the book on Wesley starter Cole Davis who lasted just two innings surrendering 11 hits and 12 runs with nine of those runs being earned. Immaculata added another run before the end of the inning as Kmiec scored on a Sacrifice Fly to right field off the bat of Wright to extend the Macs lead to 12-2 heading to the fourth inning.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Coy Walters and Crowding each worked walks to open the fifth inning but Wesley reliever Joey Strazza stiffened to escape the inning without surrendering any runs.

In the top of the sixth, Wesley was able to scratch across its third run of the ballgame, which sent the game to the home half of the sixth with the score 12-3 in favor of the Mighty Macs. After a scoreless bottom of the sixth, Steven Lombardi entered in relief and tossed a scoreless seventh inning to secure the 12-3 victory.

Mason Keller (3-0) got the start for Immaculata in the first game of the doubleheader and earned the victory surrendering just a pair of earned runs in the first inning of his four innings of work while scattering six hits and striking out three to earn his third victory in as many tries to open the Spring. Keller was relieved by Brady Fidler who tossed a scoreless fifth inning scattering just one walk over the course of his scoreless inning of relief. For the sixth inning, Andrew Rodriguez entered in relief for the sixth inning scattering three hits and one run in his one inning of work in the Macs victory. 

Game Two: Immaculata 9 Wesley 3

In the second game of the doubleheader, Immaculata and Wesley went scoreless through the first two innings of the contest before Immaculata came to life offensively in the home half of the third as Josh Crowding laced a two RBI double down the left field line to take a 2-0 lead before Fontanillas connected for a two-run home run to straight away center field to double the Macs lead making the score 4-0. After a walk by Wright, Payton connected for a two-run home run of his own to claim a 6-0 lead heading to the fourth.

In the top of the fourth, Wesley managed to get one run back to trim the deficit to 6-1.

In the home half of the sixth, Immaculata got an RBI single from Kmiec and another two-RBI single from Crowding, which extended the Macs lead to 9-1 heading to the seventh inning.

Ray Lutick (1-0) got the start on the mound for Immaculata in the second game of the afternoon and went six innings surrendering just one run on six hits while striking out seven to earn his first victory as a Mighty Mac. Chris Huyette entered in relief of Lutick for the seventh inning scattering just one hit while also striking out one. Huyette returned for the first batter in the top of the eighth getting a popup to short before exiting in favor of Luis Flores. Flores entered and surrendered two run on four consecutive hits exiting in favor of Ryan Crowell who entered with one out and the bases still loaded with Wolverines. Crowell entered and worked out of the jam to send the game to the home half of the eighth inning with Immaculata holding on to a 9-3 lead.

In the top of the ninth, Michael Gama entered in relief and tossed a scoreless, one-hit inning to secure the 9-3 victory, thus, allowing Immaculata to win the season series against Wesley with the doubleheader sweep of the Wolverines.

For Wesley, Hunter Barr got the start lasting five innings while surrendering six hits and six runs while walking three and striking out three in the loss. Ben Dawson entered in relief of Barr tossing two innings surrendering three runs on four hits while walking one and registering one strikeout. Anthony Santucci finished off the game for the Wolverines tossing a scoreless eighth inning surrendering just one hit over the course of his scoreless inning of work.

Immaculata will return to action tomorrow afternoon as the Macs embark upon their first road trip of the season heading to Wesley for the final game of the three-game set with that game set to begin at 3:30 p.m.