Track and field Lacrosse, tennis

baseball, softball both split:
lose opener by a run, win game 2

Softball Rebounds from Extra-Inning Loss Sophomore Angie Sisco was her own savior in the second game of Muhlenberg’s doubleheader split at Washington. After giving up one run on three hits through four innings, Sisco was lifted for a relief pitcher with the Mules holding a 7-1 lead. But after the Shorewomen cut the margin in half, to 7-4, Sisco came back in to face the tying run with two outs in the sixth. She got out of the inning on a ground ball, then pitched a scoreless seventh to nail down the 7-4 win. The victory gave Muhlenberg a split. Washington came back to win the first game, 4-3 in 10 innings. The Mules (12-9, 3-1) scored six of their seven runs in Game 2 in two innings, using two very different means. In the first inning, freshman Erica Wenzel belted a two-run home run. In the fourth, Muhlenberg added four runs on a hit batter with the bases loaded and three straight bases-loaded walks. Sisco finished with four hits allowed in her total of 5 1/3 innings pitched, earning her fourth win of the season. (A pitcher cannot earn a win and a save in the same game.) Wenzel drove in three runs. Muhlenberg also used the long ball to take a lead in the first game. Senior Ashley Brewer hit a three-run bomb to center in the top of third, putting the Mules ahead 3-2. The home run was the ninth of Brewer’s career and made her the first player in program history to have two seasons with three home runs. Washington (12-10, 4-2) tied the score in the bottom of the sixth. The teams remained tied through nine innings and went to the international tiebreaker rule in the 10th. A Muhlenberg runner was thrown out at the plate in the top of the inning, and the Shorewomen singled in the winning run in the bottom half. The Mules were the last CC team to suffer a league loss this season and are tied for first with Gettysburg and Dickinson in the early standings. Click here for line scores. Click for complete stats: Game 1 | Game 2

When Joseph Vila, a sophomore on the Muhlenberg baseball team, is finished circling the bases after hitting a home run, he points up to the sky in honor of his late Aunt Suzy.

Vila signaled to his aunt twice in a doubleheader split with

Senior Jeff Puklin went 3-for-4 with an RBI in the second game.

McDaniel, homering in both games. The Mules lost the opener, 2-1, and came back to win the nightcap, 8-6.

“I come from a very religious family,” said Vila, the first Mule to go yard in both ends of a doubleheader since Pete Oris (also against McDaniel) in 2005. “My grandfather always taught me to be thankful for what I have. Not everyone gets to play college baseball.”

Suzy would have been proud of her nephew for his hitting display, and she also would have been proud of his teammates for the way they came back after a tough loss in Game 1. Vila broke up a scoreless duel in the bottom of the sixth with a blast over the fence in left, but the Green Terror scored twice in the top of the seventh when Muhlenberg was unable to turn a potential game-ending double play.

The loss spoiled a magnificent effort from senior Jason Daniels, who pitched a four-hitter, striking out six, and allowed only four balls to be hit out of the infield.

Still reeling after the near-win, the Mules (5-17-1, 3-2) spotted McDaniel (9-8, 2-3) two runs in the top of the first inning of Game 2.

“We were a little flat at the start of the second game,” admitted Vila. “But we have a never-say-die attitude. We were very patient at the plate, kept chipping away and had some great at-bats in the second game.”

Muhlenberg got a run back in the second on a walk and two straight two-out hits, then took advantage of poor Green Terror fielding to take the lead with four in the third. McDaniel made errors on three

Sophomore Rob Shannon struck out a batter with a bases loaded to end the top of the seventh.

straight batters, with two poor throws and a dropped fly ball. A double by freshman Max Litvak was the only hit of the inning.

McDaniel scored twice in the fifth to make it 5-4, but the Mules got the runs back in the bottom of the inning when Vila tripled in Litvak and scored on a groundout.

The Green Terror inched closer with a run in the top of the seventh, and again Muhlenberg got the run right back when Vila cranked a 1-0 pitch for a long home run that went well to the right of the 365 sign in left-center.

“He came with a high curve and missed, so I knew he was going to try to come inside,” said Vila. “I was seeing the ball real well today, and I got a good swing on it. I got a little lucky with the wind, too.”

Leading 8-6 heading into the ninth, the Mules handed the ball back to Game 1 starter Daniels, who has appeared in all five of the team’s Centennial Conference games. The Green Terror loaded the bases with two out, but Daniels got the final out on a ground ball to shortstop to earn his third save in four games.

“I think he’s even better than Mariano now!” said Vila, a Yankees fan. “Jason’s doing an unbelievable job. He has a rubber arm. As a senior, it’s fantastic to see him pitch like that.”

Daniels has allowed only one earned run in 16 innings in his five CC outings. Both of Muhlenberg’s CC losses are by one unearned run.
Click here for line scores.
Click for complete stats: Game 1 | Game 2