Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
Augusta, NJ - Marywood University's Greg Cleary dropped his first game of the season on the mound but the Pacers rebounded for a 3-2 win in the nightcap as Marywood split with host Centenary College Tuesday afternoon in Augusta. The pair of decisions moves Centenary 8-13, 3-6 PAC while Marywood moves to 9-8, 4-3 PAC.
In the opener the host Cyclones used some late inning heroics to capture the 3-1 victory. Marywood took the early lead 1-0 with a run in the second. Ryan Cusomato (Sparta, NJ) led off the inning with a double which was promptly followed by a single off the bat of Jason Lane (Moosic, PA). On the play, Centenary mis-played the ball allowing Cusomato to score. The Pacers threatened again in the fifth when the first two batters reached. Centenary countered with a pitching change, and senior Chris Mattson came on to get a ground ball-double play and a strikeout to end the rally. Centenary finally broke through against Marywood's Cleary (Parsippany, NJ) in the sixth, as he walked the first two Cyclone batters of the inning.
From there Cleary continued to struggle allowing three consecutive hits including an RBI single by pinch hitter Andrew Granozio and the game winning double by Zach Reynolds which brought in two more. Mattson finished off the game in the seventh, striking out the side and registering his second victory of the season. He finished with five strikeouts, allowing just two hits over his three innings of work. Cleary took the loss dropping him to 4-1 on the year. Cleary struck out eight Cyclones on the day.
In the nighcap the visitor's tallied runs first again as the Pacers pushed two across in the top of the first, thanks in part to a Cyclone fielding error a three hits in the inning. The biggest coming off the bat of Cusomato, who drove in both runs with a double. Centenary however came right back and cut the deficit in half with a run in their half of the first, when Michael Fasano drove in Jayson Loder who had doubled earlier. Over the next five innings both sides were kept in check by a trio of pitchers.
Marywood starter Korey Evans (Goshen, NY), Centenary starter Ben Jurgensen, and Cyclone reliever Chris Mattson kept each sides offensive output to a minimum. The two teams combined for just four hits during that stretch with neither side notching another run.
In the top of the seventh Marywood loaded the bases following a one-out intentional walk to Cusomato. Unfortunately for the Cyclones, a pitch got away from Mattson got away and allowed the Pacers to scratch out an insurance run on the wild pitch. Mattson would then retire the next two batters on strikeouts. In the home half of the seventh, down to their final three outs Centenary again staged a pressure comeback. Fasano led off the inning with a double, which was quickly followed by a single from Andrew Granozio scoring Fasano. This left the tying run on first and brought the winning run to the plate. However, Marywood's Evans did not allow the Cyclones heroics to happen again as he retired the next three of four batters, mixing in a walk, registering the victory. With the win, Evans improved to 1-1 on the year while the Cyclones hard luck starter Jurgensen falls to 1-3.
For the game Fasano and Loder led with the bats going a combined 6-for-11, including two extra base hits, and one run batted in. On the Marywood side, three different players collected three hits a piece.. Cusomato, Lane and Matt Newcomb (Honesdale, PA) combined for a 9-for- 19 afternoon at the plate, scoring two runs and driving in two.
Marywood returns to action Wednesday when they host King's College in a non-conference tilt. First pitch in Scranton is set for 4:00 pm.
