|
BELTON, TX – Franklin & Marshall College third baseman Gary Kruger (Sr., East Islip, NY/East Islip) went three-for-four with a run scored and a run batted in to lead the Diplomats to a 9-6 win over University of Mary Hardin-Baylor 9-6 at Red Murff Field in non-conference baseball. Franklin & Marshall jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the game as leadoff hitter Eric Milavsky (Sr., Medford, NJ/Shawnee) singled to third base and stole second base before Rob Stern (So., Franklin Lakes, NJ/Indian Hills) singled through the right side of the infield to put runners on the corners with no outs. Pat O’Reilly (So., Mt. Laurel, NJ/Mt. Laurel) singled through the right side of the infield to score Milavsky as the Diplomats took an early 1-0 margin. The Crusaders (2-10) responded as Chase Beyrand doubled home Dean Shirley with the first run and Brandon Williams followed with a two-run home run to give UMHB a 3-1 edge. The Diplomats answered with four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-3 lead. Milavsky’s RBI groundout opened the scoring, while Stern and Kruger added RBI singles and O’Reilly scored on a wild pitch as the Diplomats took the lead for good. Mary Hardin-Baylor added a run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Will Doyle, but the Diplomats added two runs in the seventh to take a 7-4 lead. With the bases loaded, Jon Compitello (Sr., Yardley, PA/George School) singled home the first run and Rich Gallugi (So., Peabody, MA/St. John’s Prep) walked to force in a run for a 9-4 lead. The teams traded runs in the ninth as Tom Miller (So., York, PA/Central York) hit an RBI double and came around to score on an RBI single by Stern to give Franklin and Marshall a 9-4 lead. The Crusaders added a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI triple by Dean Shirley and Kyle Grimes’ RBI single, but reliever Ted Serro (Sr., Brooklyn, NY/Xavier) finished the inning to preserve the win for the Diplomats. Dan Tischler (So., New York, NY/Horace Mann) earned the win for the Diplomats with three innings of one-hit relief, while Cody Walker took the loss for UMHB after giving up five runs in four innings of work. Stern, Kruger and Compitello all had three hits for Franklin and Marshall to lead a 15-hit attack, while the Diplomats pitching held Mary Hardin-Baylor to eight hits. Franklin & Marshall (4-3, 0-0 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on March 16 versus University of Wisconsin-Stout at Trinity University. Game time is set for noon.
|
