Box Score Bethlehem, Pa. - After eight and a half innings The Catholic University of America baseball team dropped the Landmark Conference final series opener 6-4 to Moravian College on Friday afternoon.
The Cardinals out hit the Greyhounds 13-9 during the event, but with five fielding errors the Cards gave up five unearned runs to come up three runs shy of the game one win.
David Gately took the mound for Catholic, going all eight innings and facing 35 batters. He gave up just one earned run and tossed two strikeouts.
Moravian took an early lead with two unearned runs in the first inning, notching two more in the third to gain a 4-0 lead. Catholic saw their first run of the game in the top of the fourth inning. Jake Crist singled up the middle to get on first and Eric Scamardella advanced him with a single past second base. Brett Padula bunted to load the bases and John Palladino sent a single to right field to score Crist. The Greyhounds answered with a run in the bottom of the inning, and another in the fifth to make the score 6-1 after five.
With two outs and runners in scoring positions in the seventh, Scamardella cracked a 2-RBI double into left center to score Dan Hinchcliff and Stefan Poggioli. The Cards notched one more in the eighth when Wyatt Schimdt drove in Mike McFarland with a double to right center.
The Cards attempted to gain the series advantage but left eight total runners stranded in their last three at bats, allowing the Greyhounds to take game one 6-4.
Game two of the Landmark Conference final series will be played Saturday, May 9, at 11 a.m. at Gillespie Field in Bethlehem, Pa.
