Freshman Phil Cresta played stopper for the second time, allowing the Muhlenberg baseball team to conclude its Florida trip with a win.

Cresta recorded all but one out as the Mules defeated Farmingdale State, 6-2 in the second game of a doubleheader. The victory snapped a five-game losing skid for Muhlenberg, which went 3-6 in the Sunshine State.

In his first start, Cresta took the mound after a 7-0 loss and allowed only two hits in 5 2/3 innings. This time, he pitched on the heels of a 20-5 loss in the first game of the twinbill and again allowed only two hits. He got help from senior Eric Wolfer, who secured the victory by striking out the last batter of the game, and sophomore Matthew Ordog, who leaped over the fence to catch a would-be home run leading off the third.

The Mules broke a 1-1 tie with five runs in the fifth. With one out, sophomore Eric Hammond singled, stole second and went to third on a throwing error. He scored on a single by sophomore John Kalis, who eventually came around on a wild pitch.

Senior Ryan Sassaman brought in a run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and freshman Eric Pomroy capped the rally with a two-run double.

In the opener, the Mules were sailing with a 4-1 lead before the Rams (2-3) erupted for 12 runs in the fifth. Pomroy had a two-run single.

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You win some, you lose some.

That was the case for the Muhlenberg softball team, as it split its two games on the final day of play at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla. The Mules opened the day

Roth leads the team with six RBI on the year.

with a 3-0 loss to No. 3 Washington (Mo.) and then closed out their spring break trip on a high note, with a 3-2 victory over Wittenberg.

“We played two tough teams today,” said sophomore RiRi Ferrigno. “Even though we lost the first game, we have definitely proven that when we face a tough team, we can come out and play well against them.”

In the latter game, the Mules struck early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-0 lead. Senior Hilary Marinchak reached base when she was hit by a pitch, and senior Katie Olson moved her to second on a sacrifice. A single by sophomore Samantha Crist put two on with two out, and another single – this time by Ferrigno – drove Marinchak and Crist home.

“A few games ago, coach mentioned that my hitting percentage was getting low,” Ferrigno said, “but my teammates had all kinds of suggestions for me and said, ‘Try this’ or ‘Try that.’ If it wasn’t for them, I probably would have struck out again.”

The Mules scored their final run of the game in the third inning after Ferrigno doubled and senior Tina Roth notched a single to bring her teammate across the plate.

Unfortunately for the Mules, it wasn’t smooth sailing from there. Muhlenberg allowed the Tigers to score a run in the fourth and another in the seventh to cut the lead to 3-2. More damage could have been done in the seventh, however, as Wittenberg had two runners in scoring position with only one out; but Muhlenberg was able to close out the inning and the game with two ground outs.

“We had a moment there where it was like, ‘Oh man, we don’t want to go into extra innings. We don’t want them to tie the score,’” Ferrigno said. “It was great to see everyone buckle down and say, ‘They’re not getting another run,’ and then get the final outs to finish the game.”

Junior Katie Vecchione earned her first win of the season on the mound for the Mules, striking out three and walking none in four innings.

Earlier in the day against Washington, Muhlenberg fell into a 1-0 hole in the first inning. The Mules held Washington scoreless over the next four innings but were unable to get their own offense going. The Bears then tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to seal the game.

“Washington is a ranked team, and we still played pretty well against them,” Ferrigno said. “Overall we were able to stay pretty positive and carry that over into the second game.”

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