Led by an explosive offense that made no opponent’s lead safe, the Muhlenberg baseball team sprinted into first place after eight games of the 2006 Centennial Conference season. But the Mules ran out of dramatics and won only once in their last 13 games, finishing 15-20-1 overall and in

Tobia led the Mules with 37 runs scored and received All-CC honorable mention. He finished his career fifth on the all-time list in RBI (90) and eighth in runs scored (93).

fifth place in the CC with an 8-9-1 mark.

Muhlenberg had a .368 team batting average and was averaging 10.05 runs through 22 games, following 13-9 and 15-5 victories against Washington – the Mules’ first sweep of a CC doubleheader since 2003. The next day, Muhlenberg scored four runs in the top of the ninth for an 8-7 win at Haverford, completing a season sweep of the eventual CC finalist.

Big innings were a trademark of the Mules the entire season. Muhlenberg set a school record for an extra inning by scoring seven in the 10th against Lake Erie and scored four or more runs in 25 frames during the year.

Unfortunately, the opponents also got in on the act against a pitching staff that was inexperienced to start the season and had its ranks thinned by injuries. A pair of early games against Hartwick best illustrated the Mules’ positives and negatives. In the first, they trailed 26-9 before falling 30-25 in one of the highest-scoring games in Division III history. The next day, Muhlenberg nearly erased a 19-4 deficit but fell short, 22-21.

The Mules finished the year with a .336 batting average, their highest

Chad Hegstrom hit a career-best .312 with nine stolen bases as a senior. He hit an inside-the-park home run against Hartwick.

since 1928, and set school records for runs (308) and hits (438) in a season. They ended up 23rd in Division III in scoring, 27th in batting average and seventh in triples per game.

Junior Pete Oris paced the offense with a .429 batting average, five home runs and a school-record 41 RBI. A second-team All-CC selection, he led the CC and ranked 30th in Division III in RBI per game.

Junior Ryan Sassaman, one of three Mules to reach the 100-hit milestone in 2006, had his best season, hitting .371 and leading the team in hits (49) and stolen bases (15). Sophomore Joseph Carlo (.363, three home runs, 20 RBI), senior Matt Tobia (.333, 37 RBI) and junior Mike Hart (.333) were among the eight Muhlenberg players with at least 90 at-bats who hit better than .300.

A pair of record-setting freshmen also bolstered the offense. Eric Hammond set a school record for freshmen by hitting .417. He stole 12 bases and drove in 28 runs from the leadoff spot, earning All-CC honorable mention. John Kalis hit .341 with a school-record 13 doubles.