STEUBENVILLE – It was Franciscan University's
baseball Baron, Anthony Pontarelli, whose double in the bottom of
the eighth inning started a domino effect of runs for a 9-7 victory
over the Bearcats of St. Vincent's College Friday afternoon.
The Barons record is now 7-24 overall and 3-15 within the Allegheny
Mountain Collegiate Conference.
It was the eighth inning double by Pontarelli that opened the
door for the win, driving in Ryan Marrow for the go-ahead run and
leading the way for Matt Liedel's double that gave the Barons
an insurance run to win the game.
St. Vincent's took an early 6-0 lead on Franciscan. The
Barons began slowly chipping away, scoring three runs in the bottom
of the fourth inning. The Bearcats earned one run in the sixth, but
Franciscan did not stop their steady domination. Liedel and Tom
Costello had back-to-back doubles followed by a single from Matt
Pomeisl, tying the game up at seven runs apiece. Pontarelli and
Liedel's hits gave the Barons the lead and the eventual
victory.
Daniel Brink pitched a complete game, giving up four earned runs
off of twelve hits with four strikeouts. Pontarelli and Liedel
headlined the offense, with Pontarelli going 3-5 with two runs and
an RBI and Liedel going 3-4 with one run and one RBI of his own.
Costello went 2-4 while driving in two runs, and Jacob Machado went
3-5 with one run.
Franciscan will play their final conference game of the season
on the road against Penn State-Behrend this Saturday, April 24, in
a doubleheader. The first pitch is set for 11:00 a.m.