Bouncing back from two tough losses on Saturday, the Ravens took their first 2 wins of the season against PSU Scranton by scores of 19-0 and 3-2. In Game 1, the Ravens (2-8) were firing on all cylinders taking a commanding 7-0 lead in the first inning. Junior Jamen Palladino started the scoring with an RBI single scoring junior Luke Franklin. Immediately after, junior David McKinney singled, scoring another run. The Ravens batted around the order, plus two batters in the first. Major contributors to the Ravens' offense in Game 1 were junior catcher Chris Walton and freshman Shane Lennon. Walton went 3 for 5 with a double and 4 RBIs, while Lennon went a perfect 4 for 4 with a double and 4 RBIs as well. Other notable Raven sluggers were junior David McKinney who went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and senior Sean Smith who went 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs. Smith, McKinney, and Franklin all scored three times.
Pitching duties for the Ravens were taken on solely by junior pitcher Zachary Nutley who pitched a complete game 4 hit shutout. This was the first complete game shutout in Rosemont College Baseball Program history. He notched 3 strikeouts on the day as well. Junior shortstop Luke Franklin said after Game 1: "It was a fun team W; everything was working today. Felt great to get the first one in the win column."
Game 2 was a hard-fought grind of a victory that was kept in check thanks to starting pitcher sophomore Tim Shell who followed Nutley's complete game with one of his own. Shell pitched 7 innings of 2 run baseball, allowing only 3 hits. He also added 3 strikeouts of his own while allowing only three hits.
Offensively for the Ravens, the team notched 7 hits in Game 2 with junior Bobby DiDonato leading the way, tallying 2 RBIs. His first RBI was set up by sophomore Chase Masten who tripled in the 3rd inning before DiDonato singled him home. DiDonato's second RBI came from an RBI fielder's choice that turned out to be the deciding run of the contest. This fifth-inning bunt scored Masten again to take the one-run lead for good. Junior Connor Cook tallied a sacrifice fly being the Ravens' other RBI and senior Sean Smith contributed another 2 hits.
Head Coach, Ross Trachtenberg, said after the games: "I am so proud of our team for their efforts all season long. They deserved these victories. A lot of credit goes to starting pitchers Zach Nutley and Tim Shell today. These were the best performances of their respective careers at Rosemont and came at such an important time in the season for our program. They were our first two 7-inning complete game performances in our young program's history. They pitched great and our offense and defense supported them tremendously." Trachtenberg continued: "This was a great day for Rosemont Baseball and the entire coaching staff is excited for our upcoming games and the start of conference play."
The Ravens hope to continue this momentum on Tuesday, March 12th as they take on Lancaster Bible College at Heuser Park. The first pitch of this home opener is at 5:00pm.
