It took four days, 23 hours and 14 minutes for the Muhlenberg baseball team to complete its home game against Haverford, but the wait proved well worth it.

Behind the stellar pitching of freshman Paul Poppert and the clutch hitting of junior Stephen Koester, the Mules defeated the Fords, 3-1, in a game that was suspended due to snow on Tuesday. The finale on Sunday was played in very different conditions - warm and sunny - and Muhlenberg emerged from the game with a very different forecast than it started the week with.

The win was the fifth straight for the Mules (16-16, 8-6), who are one game behind third-place Haverford (16-16, 9-5) and a half-game behind fourth-place Franklin & Marshall in the race for the four Centennial Conference playoff spots. At the start of the week, Muhlenberg was in seventh place.

The game was halted with one out in the top of the fourth and the Fords ahead 1-0. Sophomore Matthew D'Ambrosia started the game for the Mules but pitched eight innings in the doubleheader sweep of Washington College yesterday, so the second part of the game began with a pitching change. Freshman Paul Poppert came on in relief and could not have done a better job.

Poppert (pictured above) threw 5 2/3 hitless innings to earn his second win. He allowed only two batters to reach base, both on walks, and struck out six. Poppert retired the final nine hitters in order, ending the game by setting down the heart of the Haverford order in the ninth.

Junior Chris Grillo, who had four extra-base hits in the Washington twinbill, started the winning rally in the fifth with a leadoff double that missed being a home run by a few feet. Two outs later, after a walk and a catcher's interference loaded the bases, Koester poked a single into right field to score the tying and go-ahead runs. 

Grillo reached on an error in the sixth and scored an insurance run on a two-out single by sophomore John Serruto.