Women’s tennis, men’s golf

baseball piles on runs in big innings

It was like top 40 radio with limited commercials: The hits just kept on coming. And when it was all over, the Muhlenberg baseball team had reached the top of the chart.

The Mules had one of the biggest offensive

Senior Eric Pomroy hit a two-run single in the 11-run inning, giving him 98 career RBI.

days in their history, scoring eight runs in the first inning and 11 in the fifth en route to a 26-3 home win against Dickinson. The 26 runs were the third-most in team history, topped only by 29-run outputs against St. Joseph’s in 1954 and Swarthmore in 1997.

Records aside, the win was a big one for the Mules, who need every one they can get as they contend for a Centennial Conference playoff berth with the season winding down. Muhlenberg (13-14, 7-6) is in the middle of a four-team cluster in third through sixth places. The top four teams when the season ends next Saturday qualify for the playoffs.

The Mules had the bases loaded with one out in the first when freshman John Muha poked a two-strike

Junior Adam Scarzafava, a former outfielder in his second career appearance on the mound, pitched a scoreless seventh inning.

pitch into right field. When the Dickinson (6-20, 3-10) outfielder overran the ball, all three runners came in.

Sophomore Brian Beck followed with a triple to deep right, and run-scoring hits through the drawn-in infield by sophomore Jesse Nusbaum and junior Jeff Puklin made it 6-0. Two more runs came home on errors.

The eight-run inning was the biggest for the Mules since they plated nine in one frame against Penn State Berks in 2008. The last time they had scored eight runs in the first inning was against Swarthmore in 2007.

They were just getting started.

Muhlenberg went down quietly in the second through fourth innings, but then the first eight batters reached base, including the first six with singles, in the bottom of the fifth. A double play brought home the seventh run of the inning and cleared the bases, but the Mules started up again. After three straight hits, junior Clint Lynch blasted the ball over the fence in left for a three-run homer, his third of the season.

The 11-run inning was the biggest for Muhlenberg since an 11-run outburst against Scranton in 1988. The Mules missed the record for runs in an inning by one, but they did set a school record with 11 hits in the inning. Muha, Beck, Nusbaum and Lynch, the five through eight hitters in the order, all had two hits in the fifth.

The scoring was more than enough for sophomore Mike Speroni, who breezed through his five innings of work allowing only three singles and striking out four. With the game well in hand, the Mules went to their bullpen for the final 12 outs, and the four relievers did not allow an earned run.

Lynch finished the game 4-for-5 with five RBI, and Puklin drove in four runs. Freshman Jonathan Sirica knocked in three. Muha, Beck and Nusbaum all had three hits.

Muhlenberg’s 23 hits were four short of the school record, set in 2005 against Dickinson.
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