Two wins - one dramatic and the other not - made for a successful opening day of the 2019 season for the Muhlenberg baseball team.

The Mules swept Emerson in Auburndale, Fla., coming back to win the first game 4-3 on a two-run homer by sophomore Robert Cappadona in the bottom of the sixth. They took the momentum into the second game, breaking out with an eight-run third en route to a 15-0 shutout (their biggest shutout win in eight years) behind the combined five-hit pitching of juniors Matthew D'Ambrosia and Jared Hildreth and sophomore Jack Dollinger.

Emerson (0-3), which swept Muhlenberg when the teams played in Florida last year, scored single runs in each of the first two innings of the opener. The Lions extended their lead to 3-0 with a run in the top of the fifth. 

The Mules stranded runners in scoring position in three of the first four innings but finally broke through in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by junior Jack Avallone and a two-out RBI double by senior Matt Riebesell. 

Senior RJ Hennessey settled down after the first two innings to allow just two hits in the remainder of his six-inning stint. He prevented further damage by striking out Lion hitters with a runner on third in the first, second, fourth and sixth innings.

Sophomore Cameron Miller, who reached base in all three plate appearances in his Muhlenberg baseball debut, walked to lead off the sixth. A bunt and fly ball sent him to third as the tying run, and he had an easy jog home after Cappadona hit a 2-2 pitch over the fence in right for his first career home run.

Sophomore Jake Lebovitch worked a scoreless seventh to earn his first career save. He walked the leadoff batter, but Riebesell threw out a pinch-runner attempting to steal second. That proved to be crucial when a batter later in the inning tripled, and the game ended with him stranded at third.

Riebesell, senior Chris Grillo and junior John Serruto all had three hits in the opener.

The second game was scoreless until the Mules sent 13 batters to the plate in the third in their biggest inning since a nine-run frame against Penn College in 2016. Senior Seth Wasserman (pictured above) opened the big frame by getting hit by pitch and drove in the final run with a single. He also hit an RBI single in the six-run fourth.

Cappadona drove in the first two runs of the third with a double, and the inning also featured RBI triples by Miller and junior Sam Arnold.

Senior Justin Revel capped the fourth with a two-run pinch-single.

The Mules replaced their entire starting lineup in the later innings, and freshman Gabe Robles, one of many players who made his collegiate debut, drove in the final run with a pinch-single.

D'Ambrosia struck out seven in five innings - including two with the bases loaded in the second to squash Emerson's best scoring chance - to earn his seventh career win.