The Ravens (11-22) earned the victory 10-9 over the visiting Lions of Penn State Brandywine (22-13) with an RBI single from the bat of sophomore Nicholas Skoufalos in the bottom of the 9th inning to secure the 4th straight win for the Ravens. It was a back-and-forth affair between the Ravens and Lions with a collective 19 runs being scored between the teams. The last time the Ravens took the field at their home Heuser Park, they ended the game with a walk-off wild pitch run scored to defeat the visiting Valley Forge Patriots.
The Ravens got the scoring going early by putting up 6 runs in the first inning. This was thanks to hits up and down the lineup with everyone but 3 Ravens contributing to the hit parade. At the helm for the offense was junior Bobby DiDonato who went 2 for 5 on the day with a double in the first inning and a triple in the bottom half of the 9th to jump-start the wild finish.
Sophomore Nicholas Skoufalos also went 2 for 5 on the day with 2 singles and an RBI being the game-winner. "Just go up there have a great AB, a team AB, bases chalked tie game, find the way to get the run in any way possible" Skoufalos noted on his mindset in the crucial situation. Other Raven bats of note came from juniors Jamen Palladino, Samson Gerner, David McKinney, and Nick Tanella. Palladino went 1 for 3 on the day with an RBI and a stolen base. Gerner went 1 for 4 on the day and McKinney went 1 for 5 with an RBI single and RBI groundout. Tanella played a strong right field and went 1-4 with a run scored.
Getting the start for the Ravens was graduate student Michael Denton who chucked a solid 3.1 innings of work allowing 4 runs on 4 hits before handing the keys over to sophomore Justin Gonzalez. Gonzalez hurled a needed 1.2 innings of work allowing 1 run on 2 hits and fanning 1. Junior Jimmy Rodier was the next Raven out of the arm barn allowing 2 runs on 2 hits in 2 innings of work. Getting the W for the Ravens was sophomore Pat McCalister who tossed 1.2 innings while stopping the momentum of the Lions in the 8th and tossing a scoreless 9th. This allowed the Ravens the chance to steal the game in the bottom half of the 9th.
The Ravens look to keep the win streak alive as they travel on Wednesday, April 24th to Widener University to take on the Pride in a single 9-inning match-up. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:30pm at the Widener Baseball Field.
