The Muhlenberg distance-medley relay team of juniors Brian Cash, Josh Cohen and Ben Phillips and senior Will Elson took first place at the ECAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Tufts.

The foursome’s time of 10:01.59 missed the NCAA automatic qualifying standard of 10:01.00 by less than a second, but it easily eclipsed the provisional mark of 10:14.20. In fact, it is the fastest time in Division III so far this year, so it will almost surely be good enough to get the quartet into the NCAA Championships, which are scheduled for next weekend at DePauw.

The winning time knocked more than 15 seconds off the school record and also set meet and facility records.

The Mules’ other representatives at the meet, sophomores Ashlie Hankee and Meghan Douglas-Snyder, placed 14th and 18th in the 55-meter hurdles and pole vault, respecitvely.

The Muhlenberg baseball team scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 7-6 win against Bethel (Ind.) at Homestead, Fla.

Freshman Brian LaRochelle, who singled in two runs in the fourth, began the dramatic rally with an infield single. A walk and a single by freshman Rob Lehmann loaded the bases.

Seniors Justin Graf and Justin Rubenstein then worked out back-to-back walks to force two runs in. A single by senior Ben Carr made it 6-5.

After a strikeout, freshman Matt Tobia drew another bases-loaded walk, tying the score. That brought up junior Adam Sadler as a pinch-hitter. He hit a hard ground ball to the first baseman, who hesitated, then stepped on first, then threw home – too late to get Rubenstein, who slid across with the winning run.

Freshman James Petersen pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief to earn his first career win. The Mules are 5-3 with one game left on their Florida trip.

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Yeasted will enter Saturday’s competition as one of eight remaining wrestlers in the 141-pound class. The top eight in each class are All-Americans.

Yeasted lost by a major decision to Jamell Tidwell, the fourth seed from Augsburg, in the first round, but rebounded to upset sixth-seeded Adam Anderson of Wis.-Platteville, 3-2, for his first career NCAA win in six bouts.

In the consolation quarterfinals, Yeasted is scheduled to face seventh-seeded Matt Kapraun of Augustana.

Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois), the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was a surprise attendee of the first session of the tournament. He coached wrestling for 16 years at the high school level before turning to politics.